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Residence: The Cypress
Married: Feb. 16, 1946, in Mount Vernon, N.Y.
HOW THEY MET
Doris: We went to school together in Mount Vernon, N.Y. I'm a year older than him. I'm the older woman. One day, I'm with a girlfriend. The ninth-graders and the 10th-graders were going in different doors. My friend said, "Let's go in the ninth-grade door." I said, "I can't, I'm a 10th-grader." She said, "There's a marshal on the stairs I want to see." That was him.
Ronald: Doris and I ended up dating all through high school.
Doris: He was a good-looking young man. Had a head full of curls.
Ronald: We always had a good time together.
GETTING TO KNOW YOU
Doris: We spent a lot of time courting. We had a public pool. You got 35 cents and walked there. You spent a quarter to get in and then you had a dime left over for ice cream.
Ronald: We were always on dates.
Doris: He was working as an usher at a movie theater at one point. But if I wanted to see a movie I had to buy my way in. Never said, "Come on down, I'll get you a ticket."
Ronald: Well, I couldn't do that (laughs).
Doris: There was a bowling alley we'd go to occasionally. We'd go roller skating, go into New York City.
We'd go to dances in New York City, in some of the big hotels. But none of us had cars. So we'd take the train. Everybody in formal wear in this train.
Ronald: There was always a party somewhere.
Doris: No one had money. So you had to find things to do that didn't cost money.
TIME AWAY
Ronald: I went away to college -- Antioch College. When I was there I turned 18 and I had to decide to register for the draft or enlist. I decided to enlist in the Navy. That was December 1942. I said I was trying to be an engineer. So they asked me to stay in college. I ended up reporting to duty in Champaign, Ill. They ended up keeping me out for most of the war.
Doris: We were writing back and forth constantly. I was there, and he was in Illinois. I'm an only child. My father cried because I wanted to go away. So I didn't go away and went to junior college.
A FALSE START
Doris: He was going to Japan. We were going to get married the night before the ship left.
Ronald: Then I got a routine change of orders. We were set to sail to Shanghai. All of a sudden the executive officer (said), "Ronald Jack you're transferred to such and such." He asked if I wanted to get off the ship and I said "yes."
Doris: We sort of took it for granted that we'd get married. He couldn't get away is what he always said.
Ronald: We understood each other well.
THE WEDDING
Doris: We tried to get married on Valentine's Day but it was a weekday and the church couldn't take us. We got married on the 16th. For the time, it was a big wedding.
Ronald: It was at St. Peter and Paul church in Mount Vernon.
Doris: When I went to church I saw my fourth-grade teacher standing in the back. I hadn't invited her but I was pleased she came. I said, "Mrs. Galbina what are you doing here?" She said, "I go to all of my students' weddings."
KEY TO A GOOD MARRIAGE
Ronald: I think it's respect, a mutual respect for each other.
Doris: Some people say that the key is you have to say "yes" a lot. I find that difficult. My daughter says, "Don't you ever say 'yes' to him?"
Ronald: Oh no, she doesn't believe in the word.
Doris: Only if I truly believe it (laughs). But it's been a good life. We've been lucky to be together for so long.
