Love Story: Sarah Ann and Chuck Montague, Massapequa

Sarah Ann Montague of Massapequa recalls a night of dancing and finding true love with her future husband, Chuck.

It was his blue eyes that attracted me to Chuck when we met in 1959. I was 19 and working as a secretary for the Department of Defense at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. One day after work, I arranged for two girlfriends from my Prospect Park neighborhood to meet me at the Paradise Tavern on Lafayette Avenue near the shipyard.

Chuck, stationed in the Brooklyn Navy Yard with a Marine Security Detachment, was there with two Navy buddies. Every time a certain song played on the jukebox, Chuck asked me to dance. Although I'd been working at the Navy Yard for two years, we didn't know each other. Socializing with the servicemen was frowned upon.

He told me he was from St. Marys, Ohio, and had served in the Army with Delta Company 32nd Infantry Regiment 7th Division in Korea before joining the Marines. He was 20.

We danced all night, and when we realized just how late it was, Chuck paid for a taxi to take us home. He and his friends rode with us, then caught a bus back to the shipyard. It was 2 a.m. when I got home. My mother was ready to kill me.

Chuck was a gentleman and called the very next day and apologized to my mother for getting me home so late. We started dating, and he would often come to our house for family dinners.

From the first night, we knew this was love. A month later we were engaged, and on Jan. 30, 1960, we married at Holy Name Church.

We honeymooned in the Poconos, then went to Ohio so I could meet his family for the first time. We have a wonderful son.

Chuck owns and operates Ace Exterminating Co. in Massapequa. He has an airplane pilot's license, volunteers with the Civil Air Patrol, served as auxiliary police chief in Massapequa, and as a United States Power Squadron district and squadron commander. Last year, at age 70, he sky-dived for the first time since his Army service.

I retired in 1995 as a General Services Administration contracting officer and now work part-time as a greeter with Thomas F. Dalton Funeral Homes in Hicksville. I also volunteer as president of Coma/Recovery Traumatic Brain Injury Association in Farmingdale. In our spare time we enjoy boating, flying and just enjoying our lives together. This year we celebrated our 50th anniversary by renewing our vows at Maria Regina Church in Seaford with family and friends.