Northeast News
Feb. 10, 2010

We found four couples — frequenters of the Don Bosco Senior Center — who seem to define long, happy marriage. Three having been married over 60 years and the fourth creeping up on the golden anniversary, these folks all have Northeast roots.

Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone, may your love last as long as these four couples’ have!

Louis and Louise Monaco

Louis and Louise Monaco’s marriage has stood the test of time for 68 years.

They met as teenagers when Louise was playing ball in the street with some friends, looking all of 12 years old, she said, at 95 pounds. Louis passed by in a car, and seeing the pretty but youthful looking Louise, he tossed her a nickel and told her to call him when she grew up.

A week later, Louise was dressed up going to a shower — looking quite different from the girl in romping around clothes in the street — and Louis couldn’t believe this was the same girl.

“I haven’t been able to get rid of him since,” Louise joked.

Their parents were strict, so the couple had to sneak around while dating. In 1941, they eloped to Olathe, Kan.

Now age 87 and 86, respectively, Louis and Louise attribute their long and happy marriage to choosing to love each other no matter what and doing what had to be done, together.

“I still look at her as my teenage bride,” Louis said.

They have four children, 18 grandchildren, 21 great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild, with a second on the way.

Louis grew up in Columbus Park, and Louise grew up at Independence and Olive streets. The couple stayed in Historic Northeast until 1994. They now reside up north.

Nacho and Katherine Gonzales

Nacho had just gotten off the train after being discharged from service in World War II. He and a friend stepped into a drugstore at 12th Street and Grand Avenue to have a sandwich while they waited for his friend’s train to Oklahoma.

Nacho started talking to a cute drugstore employee, Katherine, and never made it home. They’ve been together ever since.

Married in 1946, Nacho and Kay have been together 64 years now. They are both still active at 86 years old.

When asked why their marriage has been so successful, Nacho looked at Katherine and said “because she’s my love.”

Nacho was raised in Columbus Park, and Kay in Fort Scott, Kan. The couple has three children, eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. They now reside in North Kansas City.

Anthony (Ninni) and Marianne Cusumano

While growing up in Historic Northeast, Marianne met Ninni on a double date when her friend had her eye on a friend of Ninni’s.

The couple hit it off, and after a 10-month whirlwind romance, Ninni and Marianne were married in 1948 at Assumption Church (now known as St. Anthony’s Church).

Sixty-two years later, Ninni, 85, and Marianne, 81, are still in love. They agree that their marriage has stayed strong all these years because they have fun together and took their vows very seriously. It helps, Marianne said, that Ninni is ever a gentleman. After all these years, Ninni always drops off Marianne off at the door before he parks the car when they visit the senior center.

The couple lives in the house on Benton Boulevard that Marianne’s father built, just south of the church where they were married. They have two sons and two granddaughters.

Jack and Pat Burke

Jack and Pat Burke are going strong after 48 years and looking forward to their forthcoming Golden Anniversary.

The couple met when Pat was bartending one night in Independence. A customer kept giving her quarters to feed the jukebox. She ended up marrying that customer — Jack.

Both born and raised in Historic Northeast, Jack, 73, and Pat, 70, still live in the neighborhood. They have seven children, 25 grandchildren, and 17 great-grandchildren, with an 18th on the way.

Theirs was always a busy household, but they stayed together with a lot of laughter and love, they said.