Couples wed for combined 210 years share wisdom after Wedding Anniversary Mass

Larry and Andrea Fleck, fourth and third from right, celebrating their 50th anniversary this year, pose with Archbishop Charles C. Thompson and other members of their family at a reception in the Archbishop Edward T. O’Meara Catholic Center in Indianapolis on Aug. 30 following the annual archdiocesan Wedding Anniversary Mass across the street in SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral. Second from left is the couple’s granddaughter, Jacqueline Hughey, who is engaged to Patrick Sauers, left. To her right are her parents David and Dora Hughey—the Flecks’ daughter—marking their 25th year of marriage. To Andrea’s right are Mandy and Nathan Fleck—the couple’s son—who have been married 15 years. (Photo by Natalie Hoefer)

By Natalie Hoefer

Bill and Sharon Johnson were high school sweethearts, as were Andrea and Larry Fleck. Robert and Marilyn Hasty also met in high school, but as teachers. 

David Serrato and Yrma Sanchez didn’t meet in high school, but they still share something in common with the three other couples: each provides what Archbishop Charles C. Thompson called “incredible witness and hope for the Church and the world” in his homily for the archdiocese’s annual Wedding Anniversary Mass at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis on Aug. 30, sponsored by the archdiocesan Office of Marriage and Family Life.  

Added together, the four couples boast an impressive 210 years of marriage.

That figure is small compared to the more than 3,530 combined years of marriage (plus 283 children and 278 grandchildren) among the couples who came from 10 of the archdiocese’s 11 deaneries to worship at the Mass. 

In his homily, Archbishop Thompson stressed the need for couples to stay “focused on Christ. That is our calling in marriage, holy orders, whatever our vocation.”

With such a focus, marriages can sustain the inevitable crosses “of challenges and hardship,” he continued. 

“Marriage as a sacrament is not meant as a means of avoiding the cross but involving the divine grace necessary to respond to the challenges and hardships in a Christ-like manner of discipleship and taking up the cross daily.

“Couples who lay down their lives for one another, for their children and their faith, provide incredible witness and hope for the Church and the world.” 

Couples like the four mentioned above.  

Following are the stories and marriage advice of David Serrato and Yrma Sanchez of St. Patrick Parish in Indianapolis, Bill and Sharon Johnson of St. Jude Parish in Indianapolis, Robert and Marilyn Hasty of St. Agnes Parish in Nashville and Larry and Andrea Fleck of St. Roch Parish in Indianapolis.

‘After 45 years, I’m still in love’

David and Yrma went to different schools but met through friends when they were 10 years old. It wasn’t until several years later that the two reconnected. 

“She was secretary to a dentist,” said David, with translation help from Aaron Garcia. “I saw her through a window, and I thought, ‘I know her.’ And she was beautiful!”

The two were 19 at the time. As they started to date, each saw qualities in the other they admired, and they began to see a future together. 

“She is always pushing me to be better,” said David. “I sometimes think if she weren’t with me, I wouldn’t be here.” 

Yrma “started falling in love” with David from the start, calling him “very smart and hard working.” 

But when she told her parents she loved him and wanted to marry, “They said, ‘No. You’re too young,’ ” Garcia translated for Yrma.

So, the couple continued to date, and their love and admiration grew. 

Finally, when they were 21, David asked Yrma’s father for her hand in marriage, “And he said, ‘OK, she’s all yours!’ ” David recalled with a laugh. 

The couple married in 1981, raised four children and now have three grandchildren. They’ve worked with engaged couples in their parish for several years, offering advice and wisdom they’ve learned through their 45 years of marriage. 

“We tell them they must always be close to God,” said Yrma. 

“And to pray a lot to the Lord,” David added. “It’s very important to have that love that he gave us and to be able to share it with everybody.” 

He then turned to Yrma with a look and smile that said as much as his words: “Still after 45 years, I’m still in love with her.”

‘… and the rest is history’

After the Wedding Anniversary Mass, the Johnsons crossed the street to the Archbishop Edward T. O’Meara Catholic Center for a reception with hors d’oeuvres, wedding cake and dancing. 

The couple took time away from the celebration to share their story with The Criterion.  

Sharon was one year ahead of Bill at Father Thomas Scecina Memorial High School in Indianapolis—but they didn’t meet at school. It was her brother Mike’s confusion—or cunning—that brought them together. 

Bill had mentioned to Mike his interest in “a Sharon,” a different one than Mike’s sister.  

“He said, ‘You come to my house and play some basketball, and I’ll introduce you,’ ” Bill recalled. “I said, ‘I think we’re talking about two different people.’ But he said, ‘No, no, no—just come over.’  

“So, I did—and the rest is history.” 

That history started early—Bill was 18 and Sharon was 19 when they married 65 years ago. 

The couple raised five children and now have 14 grandchildren and 28 great-grandchildren, with another due in January.  

There were lots of good times, said the Johnsons, with many of those moments centered around Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) sports.

The Johnsons did more than watch their kids’ games. They headed the CYO activities at Our Lady of the Greenwood Parish in Greenwood for eight years, including coaching when there was a need—even if they “knew nothing about the sport.”

But there were hardships, too—the couple lost a daughter to ovarian cancer. 

“That was very hard,” said Bill. “And there, you have to fall back on your faith—there just isn’t anything else.” 

The two “really practiced the Catholic faith and tried to give [their children] a good example,” he said. 

Sharon agreed, encouraging couples to “keep your faith, and be there for each other, and be kind.” 

Bill added one more bit of advice: “Remember to always date and go out together. Because if you don’t do that, you’re not going to keep your marriage alive.” 

With that, Bill and Sharon returned to the reception. They danced to a slow song, gazing at each other with love and smiles that turned the clock back 65 years. 

‘A strong feeling … from the start’ 

Several years after the Johnsons graduated from Scecina, Robert and Marilyn Hasty met there in 1974—as teachers serving as lunch moderators. 

“We had some great conversations” despite Robert being “very quiet,” said Marilyn. While he may have been quiet, Robert said he “had a strong feeling about her right from the start.” 

The sanctity of the Hasty’s marriage is solid—their first date was to a friend’s priestly ordination, and five priests presided at their nuptial Mass 50 years ago in 1976. 

Robert was Methodist when the couple wed. But through a desire to “share in her faith,” he sought private catechesis to be welcomed into the full communion of the Church during the Easter Vigil in 1979. He did it in secret to surprise Marilyn—until she spotted his car at the parish one day.  

Pregnant with their first child and thinking the worst, she asked when he came home what he’d been doing at the parish. He said he was taking piano lessons.

Marily grilled him with questions: “Where’s your book? Where’s your music? Who’s your teacher? Where are your lessons?” 

When Robert finally admitted the truth, Marilyn was deeply touched—even though the Easter Vigil was also her due date. 

The couple raised six children and have 16 grandchildren, with another due in December. They remained active in each parish they were members of, from parish council to capital campaigns, Order of Christian Initiation of Adults, marriage preparation, even cleaning. 

“Start your relationship right—include the Lord,” Marilyn advises couples. “Get married in a Catholic church. Nurture your relationship with each other and with the Lord. Be forgiving as Christ was. Extend mercy and grace.” 

Robert agreed. 

“If you are close to your church and you trust in God and communicate with each other in a loving and forgiving way, things will work out,” he said. 

He might also have added, “And don’t lie to your wife.” 

‘Keep God in the middle’

When a mutual friend set up a date for extroverted Andrea and quiet Larry to see a movie, both were all in for different reasons—Larry found her “fun and outgoing and attractive,” he said, while Andrea “just really wanted to see the movie,” she admitted with a laugh.

But as they continued to date, she saw his fun side, too—and more.

“He was a hard worker and very loyal,” she said, and both valued family and their Catholic faith.

Andrea and Larry dated for three years. They wed during the summer of 1976 after their sophomore year at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., and lived in the school’s married student housing through Larry obtaining his master’s degree.

“By the time he graduated, we had two kids and one on the way,” said Andrea. “It seemed normal back then, but now it seems crazy!”

The Flecks had four children and now have 12 grandchildren.

Two of their children and their spouses joined Larry and Andrea at the Wedding Anniversary Mass and reception—Nathan and Mandy Fleck celebrating 15 years of marriage and Dora and David Hughey marking their 25th year. Together the three couples represented 90 years of marriage.

“If our other sons had been able to be there, it would’ve been 134 years,” Andrea noted.

They were also joined by the Hughey’s daughter Jacqueline and her fiancé Patrick Sauers. They look forward to their nuptial Mass next April.

Jacqueline calls her parents’ and grandparents’ marriages “a great influence, growing up and seeing such pure love.”

Dora credits such love to “keeping God in the middle” of her marriage, a practice she learned from her parents—and a phrase she adopted from her mother.

“I write in every wedding card, ‘Keep God in middle, and you’ll never fall apart,’ ” said Andrea.

Larry agreed with the advice.

“We’ve both always been digging to deepen our faith,” he said. “That’s a joint effort.”

The Flecks have also long supported the sacrament of marriage, participating in the Catholic Worldwide Marriage Encounter movement on its council and as presenters and working with engaged couples at St. Roch for 45 years.

Larry emphasized the importance of communication in marriage and advised couples “to remember that marriage is a covenant.”

Andrea agreed.

“You may go through some rough times, but the covenant will last because God is part of it,” she said. “You lay down your life for your spouse. It’s not about you anymore, it’s about the entity that’s ‘us.’ ” †