Missouri couple rings in new year by celebrating 80th wedding anniversary

VALLEY PARK, Mo. — A Missouri couple brought in the new year on a special note Monday, celebrating their 80th anniversary.

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Andrew and Bertha “Bunny” Kowalcyk celebrated their milestone with friends and four generations of family members in attendance at Cape Albeon Lakeside Retirement Living in Valley Park, KTVI reported. Andrew is 103 and Bertha is 102, according to the television station.

According to New Hampshire online marriage records, Andrew Paul Kowalcyk married Bertha Florilla Burnham on Jan. 1, 1944, in Bristol.

The couple, who were both born in New Hampshire, met two years earlier, and in June 1943, Andrew began active duty in the U.S. Navy, KMOV-TV reported.

Their romance began during a random draw at a college dance, according to KTVI.

“They were both going to University of New Hampshire and there was a dance at the dorm,” David Kowalczyk, the couple’s son, told the television station. “And the way they got couples to dance is you had a lottery and you picked a number. Well, both my father and my mother picked number 23. And, so, that’s how they ended up together.”

A month after the dance, Andrew asked Bertha for another date.

“He comes walking up the path to pick me up and, lo and behold, there he was in uniform,” Bertha told KTVI.

The couple got engaged in October 1943 and agreed to wait until World War II was over before getting married, KMOV reported. But there was a change of plans.

“He called me on the phone, and he said, ‘I changed my mind; I want to get married now,’” Bertha told the television station. “So I told him the one day I like, and I think (it) is significant, is New Year’s Day, and he said ‘OK.’”

The newlyweds bounced around the nation as Andrew was stationed in Texas, Rhode Island and Hawaii, KMOV reported. He was released from active duty in 1946 and began working as an electrical engineer until he retired in 1980, according to the television station.

The couple had six children across 18 years.

The couple had six children,16 grandchildren, and 15 great-grandchildren.

Peter Kowalczyk and his twin brother Bruce are the youngest pf the couple’s children.

“They were one piece around the other,” Peter Kowalczyk, who with his twin brother Bruce are the youngest in the family, told KMOV. “Two halves of the puzzle, you put them together, and they’re happy.”

Andrew and Bertha have lived at Cape Albeon for the past five years, according to the television station.

“It’s wonderful to look at,” Cathy Kowalczyk, one of the couple’s 16 grandchildren, told KMOV. “My parents have been married 50 years, and my Uncle Paul has been married 50 years, so it’s a great family to look up to as far as love and marriage and staying together.”

Bertha said the key to their successful marriage has been trust.

“I think trust in each other,” she told the television station. “We would not lie to each other or try to deceive the other, and it’s worked, it’s worked out.”