LI Love Story: 'A zoot suit with a dazzling gold chain' helped steal Virginia DiPasquale's heart

Virginia DiPasquale (née Mirrione) of Jericho tells the story of meeting her husband, Mario.

I have led a blessed life. I am 92 and my wonderful husband, Mario, is 96, and we have been happily married since 1953. We now live at The Bristal at Jericho. We decided living there would be best since I was involved in a serious auto accident in 2019, but I can honestly say the accident and my recovery are among the few difficult moments in a blessed 70 years of marriage.

Mario and I met on a blind date in February of 1952, just a few days before Valentine’s Day. I was 21 and Mario was 25.

We met because Mario went to a wedding where a friend of my sister’s suggested that he call me. She gave him my number and he promised to call, but he did not. Three weeks later, he met her again, and she asked Mario if he had called. He admitted he had not, but promised he would — and I am so grateful he did.

Mario, who served in World War II as a staff sergeant, and I grew up just 2½ miles from each other in Brooklyn: I lived in West Flatbush and Mario lived in Bensonhurst. When he showed up at my parents’ home for our first date, I couldn’t believe my luck. He was tall, he had beautiful eyes and was very fashionable, wearing a zoot suit with a dazzling gold chain.

We went to the Valley Stream Park Inn for an unforgettable night of dinner and dancing, and I knew that night that he was the guy for me. The man I would marry needed to be smart, witty, tall, handsome and well-educated. Mario checked all of the boxes. He felt the same way about me, because he quickly asked me out on a second date and we have been inseparable ever since.

Mario proposed to me six months after we met. We were in church and he took out two rings and asked me to pick one. I was shocked but thought to pick the bigger diamond.

There were fireworks from the start: We were married on July 4, 1953, at the Church of Saints Simon and Jude in Brooklyn. We toured Europe on our six-week honeymoon.

When we returned home, we lived in a one-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn. Our two oldest children, Carolyn and Jess, were born in Brooklyn, and as the family grew we moved to Franklin Square, which is where our youngest, Jill, was born. A few years later we moved again to a larger house, also in Franklin Square. We now have nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Mario graduated from Georgetown University in 1950 and studied foreign trade. I majored in education and art at Hunter College, which led to a teaching career. I retired in 1989.

Mario had a successful career as an executive in foreign trade. He was elected as a school board trustee and as a member of the library board in Franklin Square.

After Mario retired in 1993, we moved to Montauk. Mario conducted tours at the Montauk Lighthouse and we lived there until 2019 before moving into The Bristal. Our home, “Montauk Magic,” is still in the family, and we visit often.

People ask me the key to our happy marriage and I say it’s patience and compromise. I’m proud to say that Mario is my best friend and is as good-looking today as the day he first knocked on my door in 1952. We recently celebrated our 70th (platinum) anniversary with family at a restaurant in Bellmore.

— With Lynn Petry