Couple Has Secret of Marriage

Respect each other's tastes, be congenial, and don't belittle each other around your friends. That's the advice for a lasting relationship from a couple who have made their marriage work for a very long time - 77 years to be exact.

Dalvin Shiner, 99, and his wife Virginia, 100, were married on New Year's Day in 1925.

The couple will renew their vows Saturday on WHYY-TV Philadelphia, a public television station that crowned them the region's longest-married couple. They triumphed over more than 100 couples, many of whom made their vows more than 70 years ago.

"It still feels nice to hold his hand," Virginia Shiner said. "As for mine, I don't think it's as soft as it used to be."

WHYY spokesman Arthur Ellis said the station found a Bryn Mawr, Pa., couple married for 80 years, but they chose not to participate in the promotion.

The Shiners met while working at the Bon-Ton department store in Lebanon, Pa., where Virginia was in charge of cosmetics and Dalvin ran the men's department.

Although Virginia had a lot of dates, she thought Dalvin was "awfully nice." The feeling was mutual.

When Virginia was 45, the couple adopted a daughter, Patricia Hirsekorn, who is now 55 and a librarian.

"It was just such a wonderful joy," Virginia said, adding that she dotes on her two grandsons, who are 21 and 16.

The Shiners, who now live in a separate wing at their daughter's home in Sicklerville, sleep in separate twin beds because Virginia's restlessness disturbs Dalvin's sleep.

Each morning Dalvin serves his wife breakfast and coffee.

In the evening, they watch "Jeopardy!" and "Wheel of Fortune" together every night and Lawrence Welk reruns on Saturdays.

"They sit back there on the couch and hold hands," Hirsekorn said.

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Author: 6 ABC-AP