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Wantagh couple celebrates milestone anniversary
It’s clear to anyone who knows them, or anyone just meeting them, that the love between Wantagh’s Joseph and Tina Russo is very strong, even 70 years later.
“She had the prettiest legs I’d ever seen!” 91-year-old Joe said about his wife, Tina, also 91, in recalling when they first met. “She was a very nice looking girl.”
Since being married in 1946, the couple has been together for 70 years, celebrating their anniversary on June 1. The Queens natives came to Long Island after Joe came out of the war at 21, and together they raised a large family. Now, they have a total of 12 great-grandchildren.
“We only knew each other six months before we got married,” Tina said. “For 70 years, he has been the best guy and the best person to me, and now that he is getting sick, I will be the best person to him because he deserves it.”
Although Joe was very busy at his job driving trailer trucks throughout the Tri-State area, and Tina working as a receptionist, the couple always found time to do what they both loved. Four nights a week, they would partake in ballroom dancing. “The Cha-Cha, the meringue, we did it all!” Joe added.
“Before Joe got too sick, they used to dance up a storm and dance the rug bare,” said Rosemary Truelove, president of the Wantagh-Seaford Senior Center and friend of six years. “Every once in a while when we’d have a party, he would go up to the DJ, take the mic and bust out into songs from the ’40s. With the two of them, there was always a lot of singing and dancing.”
Although they both can’t ballroom dance anymore, the active couple still participates in various activities at the center including line dancing, singing and bingo.
“We were great dancers,” Joe recalled. “It’s all we loved to do.”
To show how much they still cared, the Russo’s decided to renew their wedding vows at Hempstead Town Hall this past Valentine’s Day in front of all their family and friends.
“How many couples do you know that are married 70 years?” Truelove added. “I think this is a very important occasion to celebrate.”
While everyone celebrated with ice cream, the couple was presented a certificate of honor from the Town of Hempstead at their anniversary party on June 1 for their 25 years of membership at the senior center on Seaman’s Neck Road. Even throughout the party, they never left each other’s side.
“We had some good times and we had some bad times,” Joe added. “But mostly just good.”
