“It has truly been an extraordinary privilege and honor over the past 12 years to recognize couples whose marriages have been 70 or 80 years or longer,” said Dick and Diane Baumbach and Fr. Dick Morse, WWME Longest Married Couple Project coordinators. “We, along with the WWME national leadership team of Peter & Sheila Oprysko and Fr. Dennis O’Brien, are looking forward to honoring and being with this year’s national winners.”
What began as a simple idea to acknowledge couples whose marriages have gone the distance has been so rewarding to WWME couples across the country. They will also honor winning couples from each of the 50 states along with U.S. territories.
“Another great benefit of the LMC project has been the national, state, and local news media recognition of the national and state winners,” Baumbachs said.
The first national winners for the project, which started in 2011, were Marshall & Winnie Kuykendall from Lordsburg, New Mexico who were honored for 82 years of marriage, while in 2012 Wilbur & Theresa Faiss of Las Vegas, Nevada were honored for 78 years of marriage. In 2013 John & Ann Betar of Fairfield, CT were honored for 80 years of marriage and in 2014 Harold & Edna Owings of Burbank, CA were recognized for their 82 years of marriage. In 2015 Dale & Alice Rockey of Olathe, KS were saluted for their 81 years of marriage. In 2016 Maury & Helen Goosenberg of Carlsbad, CA were named the national winners with 80 years of married life, and then in 2017 the Longest Married Couple Project winners were Horace Allen and Beatrice Ricks of Callahan, Florida who were married 81 years. The 2018 winners were Mota and Avanelle Young of Bowling Green, KY, and they were married 81 years, while in 2019 the national winners were DW & Willie Williams of Charlotte, NC. who were married for 81 years. In 2020 Ralph & Dorothy Kohler from Indio, CA., who were married 85 years were named the national winners. In 2021 Dan & Mary Kruse of Alexandria, Minnesota, who were married 82 years, were the national winners. In 2022 Orvel and Virginia Sherrill of Sands Springs, Oklahoma were the national winners having been married 80 years.
Over the past 12 years, the state winners have also been recognized for their longest marriages. There have been over 2800 couples nominated for the honors since the project began. Both national and state winners of the LMC project are selected solely from nominations submitted.
The national and state winners will be recognized in October of this year. An Alumni Group has been established for previous national and state winners. Previous state winners can vie for the national title, but they also are now considered members of the alumni of longest married couples in their individual states. This allows for new couples to be recognized for both state and national recognition. “Over the years it has been such a joy and inspiration to recognize a husband and wife who have been married for many, many years,” the coordinators explained.
There will be a special ceremony with gifts for this year’s national winners at their location. The state winners will also receive personal recognition and a special certificate of achievement from the Worldwide Marriage Encounter movement.
Nominations, which are open to all husband and wife couples regardless of religious affiliation, may be submitted online at wwme.org or by email, regular mail, or calling a special phone number.
The contact information for sending in a nomination, which simply requires the name of the couple, their wedding date, and where they currently reside- plus a contact phone or email address of the individual nominating the couple, is as follows: go online to wwme.org to the Longest Married Couple Project page and submit the information, email at [email protected], regular mail Dick & Diane Baumbach 1332 Deer Trail Rockledge, FL 32955, and/or phone number 321-544-3440 or email Paul & Robin Ring at [email protected] Nominations must be received by September 15, 2023. As a matter of safety and protection, the nominators of the winning couples are the only ones initially contacted and not the actual winners.
Worldwide Marriage Encounter (WWME) is the largest faith-based marriage enrichment organization in the world. Our programs have enriched and transformed the lives of married couples and priests for generations. We offer a peer-to-peer experience, typically over a weekend, where married couples and priests can pause and reflect privately on the meaning of their vocations and are given the tools for nurturing their love. Our mission is to proclaim the value of marriage and holy orders in the Church and in the world.
Established in 1968, WWME is still the most popular marriage enrichment program in the world, annually presenting 2,000 experiences in nearly 100 countries. In North America, more than 1,600 couples and priests (known as “presenting teams”) hold Marriage Encounter experiences in English, Spanish, French, and Korean. WWME’s support groups exist in virtually every diocese of the US and Canada.
Worldwide Marriage Encounter offers married couples the opportunity to spend time together away from the busyness of the world to focus on each other. WWME offers tools for building and maintaining a strong, Christian marriage in today’s world. To learn more about the Worldwide Marriage Encounter weekends online, go to wwme.org, or contact the WWME national office at (909) 332-7309.
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Media inquiries should be directed to Dick & Diane Baumbach (321) 544-3440 [email protected] or [email protected]
Dick and Diane Baumbach
Worldwide Marriage Encounter
+1 321-544-3440
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