THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, August 12, 1996 TAG: 9608120048
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KIA MORGAN ALLEN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 66 lines
Spunky as the day they were first hitched, Club 50 members swapped success stories while munching on bagels, lox and cream cheese.
The couples, now in their 70s and 80s with silver hair and smiles of gold, declared that ``divorce was not an option,'' in the days of war and the Depression.
``We are honoring the people who stayed and worked things out instead of rushing to the divorce courts,'' said Leo Saperstein, the 75-year-old past president of the organization. He's also a 55-year veteran of marriage, to wife, Fran, 73. Being married might be tough, but gaining membership into this club is tougher.
At the Brith Shalom Center of Virginia, a Jewish fraternal organization, some of the city's 94 Jewish couples married more than 50 years were honored for their marital longevity Sunday.
Divorce ``certainly didn't enter into our minds because we cared for each other,'' said member Irvin Belkov, 82, who has been married to wife Mona for 57 years.
There are 500 members in the men's fraternal club, and their wives are auxiliary members. They came from throughout Hampton Roads. Together, the couples who attended have been married 1,320 years.
The Club 50 members, some now with wheel chairs and walkers, reminisced about their youthful romances.
Willner Stanley's marriage of 54 years lasted even after his wife, Carol, presumed he was dead for three years during the war.
``My wife got a death certificate from the Navy department,'' Willner Stanley said. ``I was a Japanese POW for three and a half years.''
Yet, when he came back, ``She was still there,'' he said.
There were history lessons intertwined in many stories. The couples embraced longtime friends and showered their spouses with compliments.
``She is a very unique woman,'' Sam Kramer, 80, said of his 75-year-old wife, Anne. ``Before I got married I had a lot of girlfriends. After I met her, I said, `the heck with the rest of them.' '' The couple have been married for 50 years.
The Virginia Beach couple's romance was so unique that Anne's love letters to her husband during World War II were published in a book, ``Since You Went Away.''
Everyone had their own recipe for success.
What made Sam and Edna Schnitzer's marriage hold ground for 55 years?
``Fighting and feudin','' Sam, 85, said. ``That's why we both look young. The young girls look and say I'm 60. I say, I'm sexy, not sixty,'' he joked.
Ruth - ``over 70'' - and Fred Soskel, 72, said they go dancing several times a week. They frequent places like Septembers and Heartbreak Cafe in search of places to boogie.
``we like that more than anything,'' said Fred Soskel, married now for 52 years. ``We also go swimming at least three times a week at Bally's.''
Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera Oberndorf said today's generation could learn from Club 50 members.
``You all have such a treasury here among you that the younger people in our society should find out what your secret is,'' she said.
Ellis Porter, 77, knows being married to wife Hannah, 76, is a great feat.
``Fifty-seven years to one woman,'' he said, ``that deserves a medal.'' ILLUSTRATION: CANDICE C. CUSIC\The Virginian-Pilot
Jennie and Feldman Louis will celebrate their 61st anniversary in
October. They and other members of the Brith Shalom Center of
Virginia Beach attended the Club 50 brunch Sunday, a special
celebration for couples married more than 50 years. by CNB