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Area couples echo original 'I do's' from the 1940s
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February 26, 2009 | 10:27 AM
This Valentine's Day was a time for wedding vow renewals at Jefferson's Ferry, a retirement community for active adults in South Setauket.
Fred and Nancy Roge, who spent most of their lives in Brooklyn before moving to Jefferson's Ferry in 2001, renewed their vows on Feb. 14 after 62 years of marriage. The Roges, both 87, met in 1938 when they were just 18 years old, according to Fred. "She was my first date and my only date," he said of his wife. "I knew she was the one before I even took her out on the date."
Fred, who worked as a textile designer before retiring in his 60s, recalled seeing Nancy in her Brooklyn home when he was visiting with her older brother, Fred Ronaldo. She was wearing a white dress and had "raven black hair," he said, adding "I knew I was in love." At their wedding ceremony in 1946, Nancy wore a "big flowing gown" in front of hundreds of people, Fred recalled. And even though the vow renewal ceremony wasn't as lavish as their wedding reception, all the same emotions were there, according to Fred, who said Nancy will "always be 18 years old to me."
When asked of the couple's secret to 62 years of connubial bliss, Fred replied, "Nancy." His advice to newlyweds is to "just stay with it," he added, because "when you make a commitment, you're supposed to stay there." Fred said the couple has been very happy at Jefferson's Ferry the last eight years and will continue to enjoy "getting old together."
Nancy, who suffers from memory loss, said the couple's marriage has been successful because "we just like the same things and we do everything together." She and her husband enjoy going out to dinner and spending time with their friends, Nancy said, adding "I'm an old lady, but I'm very young at heart."
The Roges, who have a son, a grandson and a great-grandson, were joined on Valentine's Day by Jacob and Annette Schildkraut, residents of the Vincent Bove Health Center at Jefferson's Ferry. Jacob, 93, said he presented his wife with a plaque that showcases a poem he wrote on Dec. 21, 1975. It reads in part, "Our lifetime is painted with brightness and radiance, health and happiness, because you are there ... Your love and your kisses are the elements that kindle my spirit. When I needed you, you gave. When I was troubled, you soothed me ... I love you forever and ever."
The couple, who renewed their vows after 65 years of marriage, has three children, six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, according to Jacob. "She is the most wonderful lady in the world," Jacob said of Annette, 89, who is currently in the hospital with pneumonia: "I'm crazy about her, and I mean it. My love for my honey makes Romeo and Juliet look weak."
Jacob, a former newspaper photographer, recalled that his first outing with his wife was a blind date. He was introduced to Annette by his friend, who was dating her twin sister at the time, Jacob said, recalling a mishap that occurred during the double date when a bottle of liquid cold medicine spilled in his coat pocket, eventually seeping through both his and Annette's clothes.
As for his advice to newlyweds, "Never go to bed mad," said Jacob, who looks forward to celebrating the couple's 66th wedding anniversary on Sept. 5. The Schildkrauts moved to the Bove Health Center from Stony Brook last year. "They take care of us like they're the parents and we're the children," Jacob said.
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