September 16, 2009

Married couple marks 67 years—and counting

By John Gleason

On Oct. 3, dozens of couples will attend the annual Wedding Anniversary Mass, a celebration sponsored by the archdiocesan Office of Marriage and Family Life for those marking 25, 50 or 50-plus years of marriage.  The two couples who have been married the longest attending this year’s Mass celebrated by Archbishop Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., are John and Kathleen Brennan (71 years) who were profiled by the Denver Catholic Register following the Mass in 2008, and Marlin and Kathleen Kelly (67 years) who are featured below.

On Jan. 10, 1942, Kathleen Donnelly married a young Army officer named Marlin Kelly. The two had met while attending the University of Washington, where he was studying pharmacology and pre-med and she changed her major so many times, she said it’s was hard to remember just what she studied.

“Let’s just say it was general studies,” the 88-year-old Kathleen told the Denver Catholic Register.

Kathleen is a native of Seattle, Wash., while Marlin, 93, moved west from Windber, Pa., with the hopes of eventually studying medicine.  That never happened.

“I was in R.O.T.C. (Reserves Officers’ Training Corps),” he said, “and was actually accepted to attend Northwestern Medical School.  But on graduation day, I ended up with a diploma in one hand and my marching orders in the other.”

Following a wedding in Van Nuys, Calif., Kathleen returned to Seattle.  As there was a war on, she said she wanted to do something patriotic so she took a job with the Boeing Co. with the intent of rolling up her sleeves and becoming Rosie the Riveter.  But the company had other ideas.

“Since I had a college education,” she said, “they sent me to the engineering department and put me in charge of foreign files (of) other aircraft companies.”

Meantime, Marlin was shipped out to Alaska and stationed on the island of Attu, a not-too-big piece of real estate which had only recently been liberated from the Japanese.

“I arrived right after the Americans had taken it,” he said. “I served 18 months where I worked in hospital administration.”

Following his discharge, Marlin returned to work in a hospital in Vancouver, Wash.  There he got a job with the Veterans Administration, which transferred him to Seattle and, in 1952, to Colorado.  They both chuckle when they think back to a time that predates Interstate 25, among other things.

“It’s not the same as it was,” Kathleen said.

The Kellys became members of St. Patrick Church (now known as Holy Name Parish) in Englewood, the place where they still worship today.  They also raised five children and currently are the proud parents of seven grandchildren.  Family is an important part of their life together.

“We’re very proud of the fact that all five of our children became college graduates,” Marlin said.  “We set that as one of our goals and it became a reality.”

In 1976 Marlin retired and said that he keeps busy by helping to take care of the house and his wife of 67 years.  When asked what the secret to their long-lasting marriage is, Marlin said there isn’t just one key to point to.

“It’s fair to say that you can’t take the marriage for granted,” he said.  “You do have to work at it.”

“And never forget to say you love one another,” Kathleen.  “You should say it every day.”