Boalsburg Couple Recounts 70 Years of Marriage

BOALSBURG — Ralph and Therese (Terry) Savarese have been sweethearts for more than 70 years, and on Sept. 11, 2018, they will celebrate 70 years of marriage.

“My mother said it wouldn’t last,” said Terry, with a chuckle and a smile.

Terry was a Brooklyn, N.Y., girl and her husband was a Queens’ guy. They spent the first night of their honeymoon on Sept. 11, 1948, at the Hotel Edison, between 46th and 47th streets. Their bill, which they kept, was $6.83.

The couple has kept a “honeymoon” book all these years, detailing places they went and memorable moments. They spent six days at the Weldon House in East Durham, N.Y., in the Catskills. The bill was $28 a day there and included three meals.

“There was actually a discount of $2 for running water,” said Ralph.

The couple decided to go on to Connecticut, but on the first day out, their 1936 Ford died in the middle of Whitestone Bridge, which crosses the East River in New York City. Under “interesting times” in the honeymoon book, Terry wrote, “pushing the Ford.”

According to Ralph’s account, a young couple came along and helped them push the car over the hill. They allowed it to coast down and steered it off the road. The couple took the Savreses to their house, shared coffee and cake, then helped the next day to obtain parts to fix the Ford.

For seven decades, Terry Savarese has been compiling a “honeymoon book,” detailing the adventures she shared with her husband, Ralph. Photo by Connie Cousins/Centre County Gazette

Asked about his name, Ralph said it was Italian and that his grandfather had come to America at the age of 14, alone, on a cattle boat. Ralph said he never visited Italy, except during World War II.

A U.S. Navy seaman first class, Ralph’s job was as an armed guard on a U.S. Navy ship.

While his ship was in port at Naples, he arranged to meet two of his brothers. One brother, Bob, was in the Army’s 51st Signal Battalion. The other brother, Lou, was in ordinance with the Army. Ralph hadn’t seen one brother for three years and the other for more than five years. They enjoyed their brief reunion, before all going back to their respective posts.

“Two other brothers also served,” said Ralph. One was a radioman for Army in the Pacific and the fourth was with Army engineers and was in the fourth wave of the Normandy Invasion. All came home. Two bronze stars and other medals decorate the walls at Wynwood House in Boalsburg, where the couple has lived since 2013.

As a civilian, Ralph was in at the beginning of the computer age. He worked with IBM and, in 1957, the Savareses moved to Mountain Top, where Ralph accepted a position as director of management information systems. They spent 57 years there and were busy with their seven children, several of whom also worked in the computer field.

What is the key to their successful marriage? As Ralph said, “Say goodnight, no matter what the day’s been like. End it well.”