Longtime couples renew their marriage vows at Friendship Village

A ceremony took place Friday that bucks the latest trend, when 30 couples from Schaumburg's Friendship Village renewed their wedding vows, most having made them more than 50 years ago.

The Rev. Richard Oas, a chaplain at Friendship Village, detailed the statistics: that of the 30 couples, 21 had been married 50 years or longer, with three reaching 68 years.

All together, they represented 1,547 years of marriage, Oas said, which prompted a round of applause from guests gathered in Friendship Village's Assembly Hall.

Each couple carried flowers as they processed into the hall to the familiar strains of Pachelbel's Canon.

Oas and his colleague, the Rev. Shawn Kafader, another chaplain, introduced 20 of the couples, at the first of three renewal ceremonies held last week.

Among them were Walter and Marie Richters, who will celebrate 66 years of marriage in October. They were married in 1944 in the chapel at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis.

Walter Richter had been a midshipman, and as an officer, he stayed on at the academy to teach marine engineering.

Over the years, they raised their family of four children in northern New Jersey before retiring in Florida. They moved to Friendship Village just four months ago to be closer to their adult children.

When asked why they chose to renew their vows, Marie Richters said: "To bring back the first time we committed our love for each other, 'til death do us part.' "

Another veteran couple, Joe and Dot Gondeck, will celebrate their 62nd anniversary in September. Dot Gondeck was so excited, she wore her silver boa to accentuate her long silver outfit.

They both were 19 years old when they married, and within months of their marriage in Indiana, they hopped in a Jeep and headed west for Arizona, where they lived and raised their family of three children.

When asked what advice they might have for young couples considering marriage these days, they finished one another's sentences.

"It'll be 62 years, and we're still friends," Dot Gondeck said. "We have so much to talk about. We never get bored."

Her husband concurred, adding: "We're still in love. We know we're blessed."

One of the longest married couples in the group are among the most involved at Friendship Village. Shirley and Bill Downing celebrated 68 years of marriage in January. The couple met in Chicago, when they were ice skating.

"When I saw him, I knew I'd like him," Shirley Downing recalls. "And I was right, he has the most marvelous personality. He never lets me get down."

The ceremony wrapped up in less than an hour, and guests looked forward to a reception in the winter garden, with wedding cake and an orchestra, and a display of some of their original wedding pictures and other memorabilia.

However, before they left, Oas left them with one last instruction: "You may now kiss the bride."

And they did.