February 12, 2015 (Florence, SC) ─ Valentine’s Day is a holiday for lovers – whether they be young couples just beginning to date, newlyweds enjoying the freshness of marriage, or these three couples from Pee Dee Gardens, a DePaul Senior Living Community in Florence, whose marriages have withstood the test of time!

Sylvia and George Lee

 

Married for 52 years, the couple met when Sylvia went bowling at George’s bowling alley. George recalls thinking “that’s one hot mama!” The couple dated for five years when after several failed attempts at proposing marriage Sylvia finally said “I think I will say yes to that question you have asked me over and over again.”

The Lees have four children, eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild. A resident at Pee Dee Gardens for about a month, Sylvia said “love and marriage go together like a horse and carriage.”

Jennie and Wayne Graham

 

Jennie and Wayne Graham met in July of 1956 in Texas. Jennie was staying with her uncle. Wayne was in the Air Force. It was love at first sight. Jennie told one of Wayne’s military friends, “I’m going to marry him by the end of the summer. You’ll see!”

On a hot night in September, that same summer, Wayne took Jennie on a drive and asked her to marry him after just three months of dating. They were wed that same month in Oklahoma where Wayne was being transferred. The couple has one biological child, one adopted child and two grandchildren.

Wayne passed away in 2006, three days before the couple would have celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. Jennie, a resident at Pee Dee for four years, said the secret to a long and happy marriage is to “have faith in each other.”

Ozie and Hampton Dickey

 

Both originally from Pleasant Grove, Ozie and Hampton Dickey met at Johnson High School in Sumter County. One day Hampton asked if he could walk Ozie home from school and he asked her to marry him.

He was in the Navy at the time while Ozie was still in high school. The couple dated for three years before tying the knot in 1948.

Residents of Pee Dee Gardens for about a month and a half, the Dickey’s have five children, one of whom had passed away, and too many grandchildren and great-grandchildren to count! Their secret to 64 years of marriage is “to keep the love going.”

 

 

For more information about Pee Dee Gardens, please contact Administrator Sherri Scott at (843) 667-6699 or visit us on Facebook.