It was front-page news in The Oxford Leader on April 1, 1955 when Detroiter Eugene Mallia married Leonard native Marlene Schlusler.
‘Mallia-Schlusler Vows Spoken at Leonard Church? read the headline above a large black-and-white photo of the happy couple (shown right).
Five decades later the prominent Leonard couple is still making front-page headlines as they prepare to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary March 19.
Their relationship has withstood working long hours at their respective jobs, serving on the fire department together, raising two children, numerous trips around the country and world, arguments over money and the clash of two very strong wills.
‘You’ve got to work together,? Geno said. ‘You can’t just say, ‘I’m tired of this. I’m going to split.??
‘Don’t go to bed mad,? he added.
It’s amazing Geno and Marlene are together today considering their first impressions of each other when they met on a spur-of-the-moment blind date in late 1953.
‘He was the most arrogant person I’d ever met in my entire life and I told him that,? Marlene said.
‘I thought she was a dog,? said Geno, a veteran of the Korean War.
In Marlene’s defense, when she first met Geno, her hair was in pin curlers, she had no make-up on and she was wearing jeans and shirt. Her blind date with Geno was actually a last-minute favor for her friend and roommate at MacCully’s School of Nursing at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Pontiac.
Marlene said their date lasted 30 minutes.
‘If that,? Geno added.
The two didn’t see each other again until two months later (Feb. 14, 1954) when they met by accident. Geno said he didn’t recognize Marlene at first because she was all made up and looking very pretty.
‘I told her I’m going to take you home,? Geno said.
When Marlene protested, Geno told his friends to leave her ‘stranded? so he could drive her back to the nursing school.
At the end of the ride, Geno asked Marlene if he could see her again. Marlene declined saying bluntly ‘I don’t like you.?
‘Guess I’ll have to marry you to get you to go out with me,? Geno replied.
Over the next few months Geno won Marlene over with numerous phone calls and by constantly sending flowers to the head nun and house mother at the Catholic nursing school.
‘I wore her down,? Geno said with a smile.
In September 1954, Geno proposed and Marlene accepted despite protests from the nursing school’s head nun, who thought she was ‘too young? and the marriage was ‘not going to work.?
The couple was married March 19, 1955 at the Leonard Methodist Church. They lived in Detroit for three months, but small town girl Marlene ‘couldn’t stand it there.?
So the Mallias moved to Leonard, which was a tough adjustment for Geno, who grew up in the big city.
?(In Detroit there were) street cars, fire engines, police cars, all kinds of noises. I’d sleep like a baby,? he said. ‘I come out here and the damn crickets kept me awake for almost three months.?
In the early years, Geno and Marlene’s very different upbringings were constant source of tension and arguments. Marlene’s self-described ‘terrible temper? coupled with the fact her parents raised her and her six siblings to be ‘very independent? clashed with Geno’s ‘Italian king-of-the-castle? attitude.
‘He was kind of a male chauvinist,? she said. ‘He grew up in a house full of men. He thought women should be submissive.?
‘And that was most of our problems except for money (issues), which everybody had,? Marlene added.
Working long hours and opposite shifts at their respective jobs helped the couple overcome these issues as absence made the heart grow fonder.
‘We were so glad to be together when we’d see each other, the other stuff didn’t matter,? Geno said.
Despite working long hours and raising two children, Geno and Marlene made time to volunteer on the Addison Township Fire Department.
‘It was just the thing to do,? Marlene said. ‘You lived out here, you joined the fire department. Volunteerism was a big thing then.?
Geno put in 39 years with the department doing everything from firefighting to public relations work, while Marlene devoted 25 years as an emergency medical technician. Both retired as department captains.
Despite working for the same small, rural department, Geno and Marlene said they didn’t discuss their work much and never brought home their problems within the agency.
‘It was never an issue between us. We kept it seperate,? Marlene said. ‘We got along well when we were there, no problems.?
The two are still active in their community as Geno serves on Addison’s fire board and Marlene is president of the Lakeville Cemetery Auxiliary.
It’s often said the true test of any relationship is how well a couple travels together. If that’s true, the Mallias have passed that test over and over again.
Since the early 1960s, the couple has traveled to all 50 states (twice) plus Puerto Rico, Spain, Italy, France, Monaco, Australia, China, New Zealand, Fiji, Israel, Greece, England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Canada and Venezuela.
From 11 cruises to driving across Canada (from Nova Scotia to British Columbia), the Mallias prove the couple that travels together, stays together.
‘During our trip across Canada two years ago, we were alone in a car for 30 days,? Marlene said. ‘People said to us, ‘I don’t know how you did that.??
‘We had a hell of a time,? Geno added.
To celebrate their 50th anniversary, the Mallias are leaving March 28 to spend three weeks in Sicily and Malta.
But before they leave, the couple’s children, Geno Mallia, Jr. and Diane Hersha, are throwing them an anniversary bash on March 19.
Happy Anniversary Geno and Marlene from The Oxford Leader.