To Marriage! : 100 Couples Feted for Unions of Up to 74 Years

Taking a stand against continuing high rates of divorce, marriage proponents honored 100 couples on Sunday for unions that have lasted up to 74 years.

As part of World Marriage Day, certificates were presented following a Mass at Holy Family Cathedral by the Most Rev. Norman McFarland, bishop of Orange.

“We wanted society to look at the positive aspects of marriage--that it is alive and well in Orange County,” said Shirl Giacomi,director of the diocese’s Family Life Office. “Most people hear about the negative statistics. You don’t hear about the good things.”

The congregation clapped for each couple as their names and years of marriage were read, the applause growing louder progressively with the length of the marriages.

Married for 74 years, Franklyn and Catherine Franco of Leisure World in Laguna Hills held hands as they walked up to the altar to receive their award. “We’re still in love,” said Catherine, 89.

The two most important qualities in a successful marriage are love and forgiveness, she said later. “Most people today don’t have patience,” she added. “Of course, we have fights. I say, ‘Let’s talk it over.’ ”

Wearing a carnation boutonniere, Juan Salgado, 91, of Santa Ana, turned and waved to the crowd as he and his wife of 72 years, Victoria, were honored. About 50 of the Salgados’ 91 descendants attended the services. Two of their daughters are nuns.

Speaking in Spanish, Juan Salgado, who emigrated from Mexico in 1919, attributed their successful marriage to respect between husband and wife, and for God and the Blessed Mother. Victoria Salgado believes that it is the lack of a fear of God that makes so many people get divorced these days.

Amelia Salgado, one of the Salgados’ daughters, said she sees her parents’ achievement as something to emulate. “I try to tell my children to look at Grandpa and Grandma. If they can do it, you can do it,” she said.

Her daughter, Stella Oviedo, has been married for 25 years but said younger generations have more trouble living up to their example. “They become modernized. It’s hard to keep the standards going.”

In his remarks to the congregation, McFarland noted that the average marriage in the United States lasts seven years. While the divorce rate has leveled off, still half of all married couples are expected to divorce. Census statistics indicate more couples are reluctant to marry in the first place.

World Marriage Day is sponsored by Worldwide Marriage Encounter, a Catholic organization based in San Bernardino that sponsors weekend retreats for married couples of all faiths. Sunday’s ceremony was the second annual event in Orange County and drew Episcopalians and Lutherans as well as Catholics.

Several couples who attended the services recalled their Marriage Encounter retreats, calling the weekend a highlight of their marriage for the communication it fostered.

“It got us in touch with the process of marriage,” said Don Jenson of Irvine, who along with his wife, Dottie, coordinates the retreats for Orange County. “It’s a decision each day to care about each other.”

Church organizations are increasingly offering marriage enrichment programs, Giacomi said, as well as pre-marriage classes for engaged couples because so few people have extended family to rely on for advice and support.

For the past 14 years, she said, she and her husband have been attending a support group for veterans of marriage encounter weekends. The couples discuss children, money and sex, she said.

“People need to realize,” she said, “marriage is work.”