CLEARLAKE — Timing couldn”t have been sweeter in making Orchard Park Assisted Living and Memory Care Community”s next “Ageless Dream” come true. Resident Dennis Hennessee, 79, wanted another dance with his wife, which is exactly what he had the opportunity to do on Friday when he and Leona Hennessee, 76, celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary.
“Dennis is a part of our Memory Care Community and we wanted to honor his desire to dance with his wife,” Evelyn Mullen, activity director said. “Because it was their 60th anniversary, it seemed like this was the sweetest time to make his dream come true.”
The Hennessee”s danced the night away to the sounds of “Sax-O-Rama,” a saxophone quartet that recently added a rhythm section and vocalist Libbie Larson. Dancing, Leona said, was a favorite pastime she and her husband shared. “We used to dance the night away,” she said. “We get through dancing at five in the morning.”
The Hennessee”s love story began with an invitation to church. Leona said that their mothers worked together and Dennis” mother invited them to church. She said she and her mother went to Dennis” home first. “There was this guy that came out scratching his head. He was so sleepy,” she said. “I knew at that moment, that was who I was going to marry.”
Dennis said after about a three-week courtship, they began to think about marriage. “After awhile we thought we got to do something,” he said. “I thought, here we go.”
On Jan. 7, 1951, the couple ran away to Las Vegas; he was 19 and she was 16 years old. “We were kind of young and we decided it was good to run away,” Leona said. “Besides, he was too handsome to let get away.”
Leona said that they waited at We Kirk of the Heather for an hour and a half because they wanted a minister to perform the ceremony. Leona said it was worth the wait. “(The minister) was such a wonderful person, we thought he did this wedding, it”s got to stick,” she said.
Leona said that their vows are something they have taken very seriously. “In 60 years, you have your highs and lows; your ups and downs. What binds you together is the love. That”s what holds it all together,” she said. “We really believed in until death do us part.”
The couple was joined in the celebration of 60 years by friends and family including their children, grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. “This is outstanding. It”s very thoughtful and it means a lot to them. It definitely shows how much Orchard Park cares,” Jonathan Crooks, grandson, said “It makes my day to see them so happy.”
After their son David Hennessee offered a toast to his parents” 60th anniversary, their daughter Pamela Crooks saluted the milestone. She said after a bit of Internet research she learned that diamonds are appropriate commemoration of the 60th wedding anniversary. The couple was then showered with “diamonds,” including diamond golf socks, Blue Diamond Almonds, a Neil Diamond CD and diamond-colored nail polish.
Contact South County reporter Denise Rockenstein at drockenstein@clearlakeobserver.com or call her directly at 994-6444, ext. 11.
