SEVEN HILLS, Ohio — Seven Hills residents Larry and Carole Masek on Oct. 20 celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary.
To put it into perspective, October of 1951 — the same month the Cleveland natives were married — is also when iconic television show “I Love Lucy” made its broadcast debut.
To celebrate the milestone, Seven Hill Mayor Anthony D. Biasiotta recently presented the couple with a proclamation.
“It was an absolute privilege and an honor to give Larry and Carole Masek a proclamation on behalf of the residents of Seven Hills and city officials on the occasion of their 70th wedding anniversary,” Biasiotta said.
“Their love for each other and long-time commitment to public service made this particular proclamation special for me.”
Married Oct. 20, 1951, Seven Hills residents Larry and Carole Masek recently celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary. (John Benson/cleveland.com)
The couple’s story begins in the ‘40s when they grew up living across the street from each other on Lenacrave Avenue. While his twin brother, Leonard, first had eyes for Carole, it would be the more reserved Larry who eventually garnered her attention.
“I guess he had his eye on me first,” said Carole, a 1950 Marymount High School graduate. “He had a twin brother so it was kind of an iffy situation there.”
Larry still remembers their first date.
“She was attractive and, quite honestly, my brother was a little more involved with her as far as being a neighbor,” said Larry, a 1948 John Adams High School graduate. “His personality was different.
“He was always waving and saying, ‘Hello.’ Then I finally got the courage to ask if she’d go out on a date. We went to the corner of E. 131st and Miles Avenue to get an ice cream cone. We both got cherry vanilla cones.”
When asked if he knew she was the one, Larry said, “I didn’t know about marrying but I knew she was a very lovely person and a beautiful girl. However, I do know now.”
While eventually there was talk of marriage, the couple waited 16 months for Larry, who was a reserve in the United States Marine Corps, to return from serving in Korea. They were married at Holy Family Church.
Larry noted that daughter, Kathleen, arrived nine months later.
“We moved to Garfield Heights, but then I-480 came and took our house,” Carole said. “That’s how we moved to Seven Hills 56 years ago. We picked Seven Hills because we liked the area.
“The homes were just being built. We moved to E. Decker Drive, which at the time wasn’t fully developed.”
Larry spent three decades working as a detective for the Cleveland police.
“When I wasn’t doing police work, I drove a truck delivering sides of beef to A&P Stores for several years,” Larry said.
After retirement, he worked for the Cleveland Board of Education and was Seven Hills Fire Chief of the then volunteer department.
Carole was also busy working as a teacher’s aide at the former John Glenn Elementary School.
Today, Larry & Carole have been blessed with grandchildren Christy and Scott, as well as great-grandchildren Andrew, Henry, Kennedy and Samantha.
While neither Carole nor Larry had the answer to the secret of being married 70 years, the lovebirds did share a common response.
“I don’t know, time passes really quick, you get along and things happen,” Carole said. “And that’s it.”
Added Larry, “To be honest, it doesn’t seem like that long of a time.”
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