Fayette County residents share their love stories for Valentine’s Day
Pauline and Ted Sroka will never forget the Valentine’s Day holiday more than a half-century ago when a time to celebrate love and romance culminated in the birth of the couple’s first child, Donald, on his father’s birthday. When asked to talk about Valentine’s Day memories, it didn’t take long for the Uniontown woman to recall Feb. 14, 1949, when she was lying in the delivery room at the Uniontown Hospital, giving birth to her son.
Their son’s birth is a special memory that the couple has cherished for 54 years, and it’s one reason why the Valentine’s Day holiday means so much to them.
“Valentine’s Day is really very special to us because it’s his birthday,” said Pauline Sroka, pointing to her husband, Ted, as the couple sat on a wooden bench at the Uniontown Mall on a recent afternoon.
“We’ve been married for 55 years, and Valentine’s Day has always been a special occasion for us to celebrate,” she added. “But it’s more than a romantic holiday for us because Valentine’s Day marks our son’s birth and my husband’s birthday.”
The Srokas were one of the Fayette County couples, who agreed to share their love stories and romantic moments as they talked about how they plan to celebrate the Valentine’s Day holiday.
Couples and individuals were randomly selected, interviewed and photographed when the Herald-Standard took a recent trip to the Uniontown Mall in search of romantic stories.
The Srokas said they dated for about 10 months before they were married 55 years ago. They have two children, Donald and Sharon.
“We never thought it would last that long (55 years),” said Pauline Sroka, as she started to laugh. “Actually, we didn’t even think we would live that long.”
The Srokas plan to go out to celebrate the Valentine’s Day holiday this year when they will enjoy a romantic dinner at one of their favorite restaurants.
“Ted usually buys me flowers or a card, and that’s the way we spend Valentine’s Day,” Pauline said. “I imagine that we will celebrate it in the same way again this year.”
Love at first sight
Donald Smalley of Dixon Boulevard described it as “love at first sight” when he saw his wife, Joan, for the first time more than 48 years ago.
“I really liked her black hair, and I thought she was absolutely beautiful,” Smalley said. “I was only about 20 years old when I saw Joan for the first time. I was just a kid, who had only been out of high school for a few years.”
Smalley said his wife, Joan, was working as a waitress at the former Copper Kettle Restaurant, which was located along Route 40 just outside of Uniontown. He walked into the restaurant for lunch one day, and he spotted his future wife, waiting on tables.
“After I saw her, I kept going back to the restaurant,” Smalley said. “But I really wasn’t going back because I thought the food was delicious. I just wanted to see the girl.”
Cupid had aimed his bow and arrow and struck Smalley’s heart.
Even though he was completely smitten with the mysterious girl with the black hair, Smalley said it took him quite a while to muster up enough courage to ask Joan out on the couple’s first date.
And it took even longer for Smalley to convince Joan to go out with him.
“We dated for about three years before we got married, but I can’t remember exactly how we celebrated our first Valentine’s Day together,” Smalley said.
“We’ve been married for 45 years, and that was a long time ago,” he added. “It’s hard to remember every detail when you’re talking about almost a half century.”
The couple’s long-time marriage produced three children, Donald, Debbie and Randy and three grandsons, John, 20, Michael, 16, and Randy, 10.
On Valentine’s Day every year, Smalley said he usually buys his wife a heart-shaped box filled with candy because she loves chocolate.
“I’ll probably buy her another box of candy again this year because I know how much she likes it,” Smalley said.
Valentine’s Day engagement
“Bill always told me that he wanted to get engaged on Valentine’s Day,” said Joni, a 1976 graduate of Connellsville Senior High School. “We went out for dinner that night, and I was hoping that I would get the ring. But it didn’t happen. We came home to my mother’s house. We were sitting in the living room, and he got down on one of his knees. He said, ‘Bud, I love you, and my mom loves you. Will you marry me?’ I said yes right away because I was absolutely thrilled.”
Joni Rennie said her husband, Bill, will celebrate his 50th birthday on Saturday, the day after Valentine’s Day. She is planning a surprise for him, but she was reluctant to discuss the details because she didn’t want to give it away.
“He’s going to celebrate the ‘big 5-0’ so it’s going to be a very big occasion,” Joni said. “I know that we’re going out to dinner to celebrate Valentine’s Day, but I also have a surprise planned for him. That’s all I can say about it without spoiling the surprise.”
52-year marriage
Margaret and Steve Sweda of Fayette City have been married for more than half a century.
“Can you imagine that? I’ve been married to the same man for 52 years. That’s a long time,” Margaret Sweda said, as she started to laugh.
The couple began dating in 1950 when they were both working at Corning Glass Co. in Charleroi, but their parents, who are from Czechoslovakia, had known each other for many years.
“My father actually knew her father during the horse and buggy days,” Sweda said. “Because our parents were friends, we had known each other for quite some time before we actually started dating.”
Their romance kicked into high gear when Margaret bought a car and asked Steve if he would teach her how to drive.
“She was 27 or 28 years old at the time, and I was five years younger than her,” Steve said. “When she asked me if I knew how to drive a car, I was thrilled because she was an older woman. I was very impressed by her. When I taught her how to drive, we started moving a little closer together.”
Although the couple went out on their first date in 1950, Steve admitted that he actually had his eye on her for about a year before the date.
After a one-year courtship, the couple tied the knot.
When asked how they spent their first Valentine’s Day together, both Margaret and Steve spent some time thinking about it.
“That was a long time ago, and it’s pretty hard to remember,” Steve said. “But if my memory is correct, I think we went out to dinner, and I gave her a card to let her know what I really felt about her.”
Margaret, who suffers from fibromyalgia, an autoimmune disease similar to arthritis, said the couple plans to go for dinner on Valentine’s Day this year when her husband will probably give her flowers and candy.
“We’re getting up there in age, and we have some days when we don’t feel like doing much,” Margaret said. “But if we’re having a good day and we’re feeling energetic and the weather cooperates, we’ll probably go out for the evening.”
Young love
Dorothy Shamrock, 19, of Lemont Furnace plans to spend Valentine’s Day having a romantic dinner her boyfriend, Chris Glagola, 23, of Brownsville at one of the couple’s favorite restaurants.
This Valentine’s Day will be special for the couple, who will celebrate the one-year, nine-month anniversary of their first date on Feb. 17.
“We celebrate our relationship every month that we’re together,” said Shamrock, who works as an assistant manager at Lerner New York at the Uniontown Mall.
When asked if she expects to receive a marriage proposal and an engagement ring for Valentine’s Day, Shamrock said she thinks Glagola is eventually going to propose but she isn’t convinced that it will happen today.
Because of her boyfriend’s romantic nature, Shamrock said she thinks he might choose July 17, the two-year anniversary of their first date, as the perfect time to pop the big question.
“My cousin knew him, and she introduced us,” Shamrock said. “The first time we met, I knew he really liked me and I really liked him.
“But he was afraid to call me because he was just too nervous.,” she added. “After we met, it took him about a month to call me and ask me out on a date. We went out to dinner and a movie, and we’ve been together ever since.”
A romantic gift
Keith Sanner of Indian Head said he plans to give his girlfriend, Carol Bowers, a dozen red roses for Valentine’s Day because she loves romantic gifts.
Sanner was interviewed recently while he was shopping at the Uniontown Mall with his 13-year-old daughter, Megan Keefer, from a previous marriage and his 2-year-old daughter Kerrigan Sanner.
“I’m divorced from my first wife, and I’ve been dating my girlfriend for about 10 years,” Sanner said. “I guess you could say it was a friendship that grew. And we’ve been together ever since.”