Eleanor, 107, and Lyle, 108, Gittens recently attained the title of the world’s longest married couple after 83 long years together. Asked how they stayed together that long, Eleanor answered simply, “We love each other,” during an interview with LogeviQuest.
Lyle Gittens told the site, “I love my wife,” and both asserted that maintaining their marriage had never been difficult for either of them.
Based in Miami, the centenarian lovebirds met during a basketball game at Clark Atlanta University in 1941 and married a year later in 1942. They wed in the middle of World War II, as Lyle was granted a three day leave from the US army base in Georgia.
When Lyle was deployed to Italy with the US Army’s 92nd Infantry Division, Eleanor was already carrying their first child and moved to New York to be with Lyle’s family.
After two years of letter writing and fears that Lyle would not survive the war, the couple were able to start their marriage together and have another two children.
Long lasting marriages
LongeviQuest confirmed through US census entries and cross-referenced archival material, in addition to reviewing their marriage certificate, to confirm the 83 year union of the Gittens.
The couple adopted the title of longest married couple after the death of 106-year-old Manoel Angelim Dino, who had spent 85 years married to his wife 102-year-old Maria de Sousa Dino before passing away in October.