Longtime Couples
Refl ect on Married Life
MARISSA STERN | JE STAFF
A Bernard and Ruth Spekter (center) with their children, Barbara (far left) and Michael (far right)
lot can happen in 70 years.

Seventy years ago, Israel declared independence, the World
Health Organization was formed by the United Nations, Mahatma
Gandhi was murdered and, closer to home, the Philadelphia
Eagles won their fi rst-ever NFL championship.

But also 70 years ago, some Philadelphia couples were begin-
ning their lives together.

And now — all these years later — they refl ect on the secrets
to a long, healthy marriage and the lives they’ve built since then.

Mildred “Micky” and Marshall Kline celebrated their 70th an-
niversary in June.

Th ey met when they were 19 and 25, respectively, on a double
date — each paired with other people.

“One of my girlfriends made it a double date for me,” Micky
Kline, 89, recalled. “She was with Marshall and I was with a friend
of his, and that next Monday night aft er we went out that Sunday,
he called me. Th at’s how we met.”
Th ey started dating aft er that, and “that was it,” she laughed.

Th ey married in 1948 and are now proud parents, grandparents
and great-grandparents.

Aft er their kids were off to college, Micky Kline worked
for Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel for 18 years as well as the
Philadelphia offi ce of Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem.

Marshall Kline, 95, who served as a technical sergeant in the
Army attached to the Marines and earned three bronze stars,
worked in business. He noted they’ve had their ups and downs as
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any married couple does, but they’ve come out smiling.

“We traveled to many parts of the U.S. and the world,” he wrote
in a letter. “Our children are married over 40 years and we are
blessed with four grandchildren, married and with six great-grand-
children. Intelligent and beautiful, all are intelligent and beautiful
children. We are so lucky to have children we can praise.”
“You just have to give and take,” Micky Kline echoed. “We’re
very proud of the way our children turned out and grandchildren,
they’re just wonderful. We did something right.”
She off ered some key advice to those who hope to reach their
own 70 years of wedded bliss: Never go to sleep angry.

“You have to work at a marriage,” she added. “You have to keep
being close with each other. Th at’s the story, honey.”
Nowadays, many couples meet via dating apps on their phones,
which allow the users to send messages to each other before they even
meet. But long before there were apps, Paul and Evelyn Becker struck
up conversation the classic way: handwritten letters.

Evelyn’s brother was married to Paul’s sister, which was how the
pair, who just celebrated their 72nd anniversary, fi rst met.

It didn’t quite work out.

“We just went out a couple times, once or twice, and we didn’t
hit it off ,” Paul Becker, 97, recalled, noting they still saw each other
at family events but “we stopped seeing each other as a couple.”
SIMCHAS See Longtime, Page 18
OCTOBER 25, 2018
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