Together for over a half-century, Curtiss and Thomas LaPenna decided to finally make it official when Thomas entered the hospital last year.
By: Lea Kahn
Curtiss VanMetre and Thomas LaPenna have known each other and lived together for more than half a century. But it took Mr. LaPenna’s recent hospitalization for the two to finally tie the knot.
Friday afternoon, Ms. VanMetre and Mr. LaPenna were married by Mayor Michael Powers in a ceremony at the Lawrenceville Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, on Franklin Corner Road.
The couple wanted a small ceremony, but the event grew into a full-fledged wedding once the nursing home staff found out about it complete with wedding cake, flowers and entertainment.
Nursing home administrator Tom Miller and his wife, Desiree Miller, were excited when they learned of the couple’s wedding plans and arranged for the cake and flowers, social worker Melissa Chalker said. The staff pitched in and helped the couple get ready for their big day, she said.
"They went from a couple that didn’t want a big deal to having the dining room set up like a chapel," added Tracy Morrison, manager of human resources at the nursing home.
"We have known each other for 54 years," Curtiss, now a LaPenna, said Tuesday afternoon, sitting next to her new husband’s bed at the nursing home. "We were very active in the United Electrical Workers union. We met at the union hall. That’s what drew us together."
Curtiss, 81, worked for the Westinghouse Corp., and Thomas, 82, worked as a tool-and-die maker at the Kramer Trenton Co., which made air conditioners and refrigerators. Both businesses were located in Trenton.
More than 50 years ago, Curtiss invited her friend to move into one of the two empty rooms in her house after he got into an argument with his brother.
Their friendship blossomed, but they did not marry because Curtiss was concerned about her then young son, Ronald VanMetre. She said if her son decided to enter politics, she did not know what impact it would have if he had a different last name than hers.
Still, the couple continued to live together and raise Curtiss’ son, who was about 5 or 6 years old when Thomas moved into the household. Today, Thomas is "Pop-pop" to Ronald VanMetre’s two grown daughters.
When Thomas began a series of hospital stays last year, the couple decided it was time to get married. Curtiss reasoned she would not have any say-so in Thomas’s medical care if they did not cement their bond legally, so they took out a marriage license.
"All we wanted was a simple wedding," said Thomas, who expects to be discharged from the nursing home next week. He is recuperating from an infection, and is anxious to return to their condominium at the Brandon Farms development in Hopewell Township.
Half a century ago, it was not common for couples to live together without being married, but the couple’s arrangement did not raise eyebrows among their friends and family. Her friends liked him, and his friends liked her, Curtiss said.
"We always felt like one person," she said, adding that she had not noticed any difference in their relationship since their marriage other than the fact that twice she had signed the visitor’s log at the nursing home with her former name.
Also, unaccustomed to wearing a wedding band, she’s forgot it at home a couple of times.
"They (staff) asked me where my wedding ring was, and I told them it was in front of the TV," she laughed.
The nursing home staff, meanwhile, was enthralled at the prospect of a wedding. It is the first wedding at the Franklin Corner Road nursing home in recent memory, Ms. Chalker and Ms. Morrison agreed.
"There was an archway with lights," Ms. Morrison said. "When she (Curtiss) came down the aisle, she was waving to everyone. She came in to the "Wedding March" and Mayor Powers gave them their vows. They were very happy."

