Glenview residents meet, marry during pandemic

Business lockdowns, voluntary home confinement, and avoiding strangers had suddenly become the new normal by early spring 2020, and experts were warning that anyone over 70 was potentially at high risk.

But was a worldwide pandemic going to stop Dinah Jacobs, then 73, and Larry Castle, then 77, from falling in love?

Not a chance.

Both were widowed, and only a handful of days before the seriousness of the pandemic became apparent, both had signed up within hours of each other on JDate.com, a dating website for Jewish singles.

Larry, a longtime Glenview resident, and his wife, Bernadine, had owned a family business, Richards Antiques - in Chicago and then Skokie - for 43 years. She died two years ago.

Dinah had been married for 40 years to Donald P. Jacobs, dean of Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management for 27 years. He died three years ago, and she moved into a villa in Vi at the Glen in January of 2020. Among the five careers she has enjoyed during her life, the most prominent was as Global Corporate Director of Customer Affairs for Citicorp/Citibank for 17 years.

In their first JDate encounter, he messaged her, she called him the next day, and their courtship began. Yet soon they had to deal with pandemic protocols.

"We arranged that I would drive to her home and she would come out on the front porch," Larry said. "I got out of my car and talked to her from the sidewalk, and we continued from there."

As the weather warmed, so did their affection for each other.

"My first thoughts? I was happy," Dinah said. "Larry was easy to talk to, seemed happy to see me, and is a good-looking man. There has always be a lot of laughter in our relationship."

Six months later, Larry proposed. "She was sitting in the kitchen. I got down on one knee before she lit Friday night Shabbat candles. And she said 'yes!'"

"It's a great irony that, at a time of so much difficulty and true tragedy in the world, it's the happiest time recently in our lives," Dinah said. "For the first time in several years after our spouses died, we have found great happiness and lots of love and laughter. We are so fortunate that way."

Dinah and Larry made it official on June 8. They married at Northbrook Community Synagogue before 30 family and friends, including Dinah's best friend who flew in from Israel. Also present were Larry's two sons and three grandsons. A reception and dinner followed in the elegant Private Dining Room and adjacent outdoor garden at the Vi.

"The Vi was definitely our first choice," Dinah said. "It has just undergone a multimillion dollar refreshing, and all the public spaces are beautiful. I also felt like Eva Szczep, the Director of Dining Services, was making a wedding for a family member. She is a pleasure to collaborate with. Our guests, the food, the setting, the flowers, the weather - for me, it was our dream wedding. It came off without a hitch."

None of that surprised her. "The Vi really is a family and I have very good, strong feelings about this. The management led by Executive Director Steven Fowler and Vi team members are real professionals. They got us through the worse time during the pandemic and did so with expertise and caring."

Now Larry and Dinah feel like they are living their best life.

"We are very happy," Larry said. "We are starting a new life together, a new chapter in our lives, and we look forward to our remaining years together."