By Amy White
The Texas Catholic
At a counterintelligence base in Baltimore, a corporal and a private met, fell in love, and got married — all within a matter of months. Now, eight children, 21 grandchildren, and 35 great-grandchildren later, the love story continues for St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church parishioners Donald and Joanne Levinski, who have celebrated 73 years of blissful matrimony together.
It was providence, the couple said, that first brought them to each other. Donald, a North Dakota native living in San Francisco, relocated to Baltimore to serve as a corporal in the counterintelligence hub. Joanne, hailing from Wisconsin, joined the same base as a private. There, a shared Catholic faith quickly drew the pair together; and, after five months of working together, the pair began going steady.
“All of our dates when we started going together were on the base, because we didn’t have any money,” Donald said, recalling weekend dances and walks around the base. “We did that, and it worked out fine!”
After only a month of dating, the two had made up their minds: They wanted to be married. So, they quickly contacted a local priest to bring that plan to fruition.
“He was just the right guy for me, that’s all,” Joanne said. “We decided on Tuesday that we would get married Saturday.”
With the permission of the priest, the two were married in 1952 in an intimate church ceremony with just a few friends in attendance. On the way back from the ceremony, Donald and Joanne picked up a few supplies for their new life together: some plastic dinnerware, sheets and pillowcases, salt and pepper — and, they added with a laugh, a watermelon for their wedding reception. Then, the Levinskis quickly fell into a shared rhythm of life.
Even in those earliest days of their marriage, the couple said, they had a habit of doing everything together — from raising their children to going to church to cleaning their shared home.
“He has always helped me,” Joanne said with a smile, “with all the housework, the cooking, everything.”
“I would polish the shoes; she would polish the brass,” her husband agreed.
The couple also volunteered together. At St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Parish in Plano, where the Levinskis spent more than 50 years as parishioners, the two served their faith community side by side. Donald offered his assistance as an usher, counting the money each week; while Joanne taught religious education classes and ran errands for the local nuns. Together, the two also served as communion ministers at their parish, bringing the Body of Christ to Catholics in senior living communities. For 18 years, they both volunteered with the American Red Cross too.
“We did as much as we could do together,” Donald said. “We’ve never done anything alone.”
Now, at 95 years old — “just kids,” Donald joked — the Levinskis said their marriage looks different, in some ways, than it did in their first days together. Unable to drive, for example, they now rely on members of their community to get from place to place: Their children bring them to the grocery store and doctors’ appointments; and friends offer them a ride to Mass at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton each Sunday. Their next-door neighbor, too, checks in to make sure the pair is okay.
“All of them,” Joanne said, “are trying to help us with whatever we need.”
Though their level of mobility has changed, something more central to their relationship remains the same: After more than seventy years of marriage, the Levinskis are still eager to spend their days together; and, Donald said, he would advise younger couples to do the same.
“Just listen to each other and try to be together,” he said. “Do as much as you can together.”
Contemplating their 73 years of marriage, the Levinskis expressed gratitude for God’s hand in their love story, for the support of their community, and for the time they have been given to spend with one another.
“We are so blessed that we have our health, and we are both here,” Joanne said. “We are very fortunate.”
Cutline for featured image: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church parishioners Donald and Joanne Levinski are pictured in their home Feb. 6. The couple celebrates 73 years of marriage. (AMY WHITE/The Texas Catholic)
