Jim and Suan Giel have sons Gary and David.
The Giels’ first meeting and wedding details were reported by TribLIVE. On a cold Friday night in January 1948 in Etna, Pennsylvania, Jim offered a ride to Suan and a friend. He kept pursuing Suan, and they married November 1, 1951, at the rectory of St. Joseph in Sharpsburg. Because Jim was Roman Catholic and Suan was Lutheran, they could not marry in the church sanctuary. Jim has said the Catholic Church still considers them not married because the ceremony took place on All Saints Day.
TribLIVE reported that Jim was the 10th of 14 children and built a career in the garage-door business. Their sons Gary and David now run the business.
Family
TribLIVE’s account described Suan’s early life and work: She was the youngest of three children, the daughter of an Etna dentist and a mother who worked as a nurse at West Penn Hospital. Her father died at 48. Although she had planned to attend college and become a teacher, she went to secretarial school instead. She later left a bank job when she was three months pregnant with the couple’s first son, Jim Jr., and worked for about 10 years as a secretary in the Shaler Area School District. The report said she is believed to be Shaler’s oldest living continuous resident.
The couple’s sons include David and Gary.
Later years
Jim retired in 2021.
Research from the Bowling Green State University National Center for Family and Marriage Research found that 7.7% of all current U.S. marriages had reached 50 years as of 2022. Among currently married older adults, the share with 50 or more years together fell from 52% in 2014 to 46.9% in 2022. Among married adults 70 and older in 2022, about a quarter (25.4%) had reached that milestone.
Marriage timing has changed
According to Bowling Green State University’s National Center for Family and Marriage Research, the U.S. median age at first marriage has increased steadily since the mid-20th century, a national trend that does not explain the Giels’ individual experience.
The Giels marked their 70th anniversary in November 2021, a milestone reached by a small share of marriages.
