Someone simply please confirm...

If the one who reached 70.5 is a 5% owner ( and of course wife is 5% as well by attribution ) there is no delaying the RMD... correct?

That's correct. Required beginning date for a 5% owner is April 1st of the year following attainment of age 70 1/2. I didn't think that the attribution rules apply in this context, but it appears that you are correct on that point as well.

You might have a 242b election from 1983, if the participant has been in the same plan continuously since then. This would exempt the owner from 70 1/2 distributions, assuming that no prior distributions have been made. Such an election should be in the plan's administrative records if it exists.