'Like two teenagers in love': Lancaster County couple who divorced in 1975 to remarry!

It was an ordinary day.  Fay Gable – back when she was growing up around Denver, Pennsylvania, as Fay Shober – first knew Robert Wenrich as her older brothers’ buddy.  “He was their best friend,” she said. "And he told them that he was going to marry me someday."  He did, on Nov. 10, 1951.  The couple later divorced in 1975.  They each married someone else, and each were widowed.  Now, Robert and Fay have married once again....to each other....as of yesterday! 

Fay and Robert showing an old photo of themselves.

Planning the big day has been Carol Smith of Reamstown, the youngest daughter of a duo who went swimming and ice skating at Greenville Creek during Harry S. Truman’s presidency. She’s enjoyed seeing her parents hanging out more and more over the past year.  “They’re like two teenagers in love. They do everything together,” Smith said. “He said, ‘She was the first love of my life. I never thought I’d get her back. And now that I did, I’m not wasting any time.’”  At his age, he can’t afford to, Smith said. Her father turns 94 two days before the wedding. His once-again betrothed is 89.  “I think we’ll be good now for the next couple years,” Wenrich said.  The pair declined to discuss reasons for their mid-’70s parting of ways.

Playing cards together
It’s not their style.  “It’s like my dad says: Why hold onto that stuff that makes you upset? Leave it go. Don’t keep reliving that,” Smith said. “Too many people these days do that. They form a wall and don’t ever get past it. And the kids suffer.”  Smith said she and her siblings were fortunate on that front.  “For us? These guys would go to church with us and sit in the same pew,” she said. “They would both go to the grandkids’ birthday parties. We’ve always been a family. And now that they both are widowed, they’ve found their way back to each other.”  Originally, the couple planned to handle their second union at a justice of the peace. But Smith and others convinced them to accept something more befitting of their sweet story. That did mean Smith had to hustle to make everything happen in three weeks, in time for the one date Denver’s Bear Mill Estate happened to have available. “When she called me (on Nov. 11) and said, ‘Yeah, I think we’re going to get married,’ I had the venue and the pastor within the first hour,” Smith said. “And then everything else has just been falling into place.”  Hydrangeas and white roses will go on the table and a corsage and boutonniere on the couple. Mother-daughter nails are getting done on Saturday.

The new "old" bride wearing her new ring.

The bride’s dress is sleeveless with a jacket. It’s an ecru little number from Boscov’s. “It’s a lot nicer than her first dress,” Smith said. The one her mother wore 73 years ago was brown and far from fancy. There aren’t any pictures of their first wedding. That happened under a tree in a backyard belonging to the family of a woman a brother had recently wed. “He got married, and then I found out we were having a child,” Gable said. “And we got married two weeks after that. My parents had two weddings in, like, a month’s time.”  They handled that news pretty well, Gable added.  “We lived with my parents for a while, even until after our son (David Wenrich) was born,” she said. “And then we moved up beside his parents, just on top of the hill.”  Early on, she worked in a butcher shop before switching to nursing – a career path Smith followed. Wenrich made hosiery at a Denver knitting mill.  “Then I went into painting and paper hanging,” he said. “Things worked out good for me.”  David took over his father’s business when the elder Wenrich was ready to retire. In the early years, Fay would sometimes go with Robert to help with wallpaper. They’ve done a lot of work side by side. Chores even played a part in them getting together in the first place.  Fay’s family was large. One of her jobs was to empty the water from the washing machine on laundry days. Robert would often show up to help. Smith chuckled at that detail.  “See, I’m learning things I didn’t even know,” she said.  Husband-wife date nights weren’t an option back then. The couple never made it to a movie.  “We were busy raising four children,” Gable said. “But we’re having fun now.”  They particularly enjoy trying their luck at Hollywood Casino Morgantown in Berks County.  “The more we were together, the more we realized that we’re happy to be together,” she said.  They both like playing cards at home. A game called Hasenpfeffer is a particular favorite.  “People might have not wanted to go through what we went through before we got to this point,” Gable said. “But I’m really glad I’m here now.”  About 80 people will be at their wedding. Most of them are family, including two stepsons, Mike and Tom Gable, who Fay gained via her late husband, Don, whom she lost two years ago after 42 years of marriage. Wenrich was married to Carol Shultz for 24 years and has been widowed for nine.  Some generational photos on Sunday’s agenda will include the engaged couple’s four children together (David Wenrich, Sandy Wenrich, Kathy Weinhold and Smith) plus 14 grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren and two (twins) great-great grandchildren.  The DJ will spin the bride-to-be’s requests for artists like Fats Domino and Ray Charles. The couple’s first dance will be to the groom’s instrumental favorite — “The Last Date” by Floyd Cramer.  These are the kind of details that Smith’s coworkers at Eden Park Pediatric Associates are hanging on — quizzing her daily about plans she’s locked in with the assistance of her daughter, Amber. Even strangers are offering best wishes to her parents as their story makes social media rounds.  “They’ll go to the grocery store and people are recognizing them,” Smith said.  That’s thanks, in large part, to a picture that Parkhill Jewelry posted when the couple was handling ring business at that Ephrata shop.  Their story was told more than once Nov. 30 at the casino where the bride-to-be had a bachelorette bash. The crown and sash she sported drew quite the attention from folks.  “They could tell that I’m no spring chicken,” Gable said. “But they loved the story, and it was congratulations all around.”  That’s been typical over the past couple weeks, Smith said.  “It brings people to tears,” she said. “And they all just say that’s what they need to hear.”  Too many of today’s stories are sad ones, Smith said, adding that people are craving uplifting news.  “And it’s the perfect time of year for it,” she said. “I keep saying I don’t have to watch any Hallmark movies because I’m living one.”  And. . . I'm so glad that I will be able to publish this story on my blog for the world to read.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.