Marilyn and Bob Werner are celebrating their 68th wedding anniversary today! Bob jokes that it’s April Fools Day!
Bob grew up in the New Jersey suburb of Park Ridge and Marilyn, “lived all over the place,” she said. Her dad was the Vice President of the Missouri Pacific Railroad and the family moved often.
Paths crossed and the two met when they attended the University of Colorado. Marilyn was working on constructing homecoming decorations. “I was an artist and I had a vision of creating a beer mug that was dunking the mascot from the opposing team,” said Marilyn. “That required scientific know how, so I recruited Bob, who was in the Lutheran student organization with me because I knew he was an Engineering Major. We pulled it off. We got an award!” she continued.
When asked what led them to the alter, Bob said that he and Marilyn forged a strong friendship. Marilyn said that she mainly liked Bob because he was handsome, with a thick head of dark hair and blue eyes!
The two graduated college and ended up landing in Rhinebeck, New York, where they welcomed 5 children – 4 girls and a boy. Bob worked for IBM for 36 years while Marilyn worked as an art teacher in the local school system for 32 years.
In the summer, the whole family would go to Camp Good News in Sandwich. Marilyn ran the guest house and Bob performed handyman duties. The kids loved the camp and nature. They also became heavily involved in 4-H where they learned sewing and cooking skills. Those days at the camp are among Bob and Marilyn’s favorite memories.
The couple loved the Cape so much that they decided to buy a summer house in Pocasset. Eventually it became their retirement home. The duo stayed busy, volunteering for the Woods Hole Historical Museum. They loved meeting people from all over the world who came to visit Woods Hole.
In addition, in his retirement Bob loved to bicycle along the canal and continued working part-time on the lobster boat, “The American Beauty.” Marilyn said that she was totally content reading and sewing while he did that.
Marilyn says that raising her kids is without a doubt her utmost purpose in life. Bob jokes that the grandkids were his!
