Fairfield, CT (WFSB) — A Connecticut couple is the longest married couple in the country.
The day John and Ann Betar tied the knot the Great Depression was in full swing, King Kong hadn’t even hit theaters, and President John F. Kennedy was still just a teenager.
The Betars just celebrated their 81st wedding anniversary.
“It isn’t a lovey dovey thing for 80 years,” said Ann Betar. “You learn to accept one another ways of life, agreements, disagreements.”
The Fairfield couple was named 2013’s “longest married couple” living in the United States in February.
Ann’s father had plans to marry her off to a man 20 years older. The couple fled their close-knit Syrian neighborhood in Bridgeport.
They drove as fast as they could to New York and eloped in Nov. 25, 1932.
The 98 and 102-year-olds said their family thought the marriage wouldn’t last, but after all these years they are going strong.
The Betars have shared the same home on the Long Island Sound since 1964, which is just a few miles from where they raised their five children in Bridgeport. They have 14 grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren.
John Betar has some advice for all the married couples out there.
“Be content with what you have and what you’re doing,” he said.
