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70 years and going strong

70 years and going strong
The Brooklyn Paper / Tom Callan

It took six years for Walter Berman to convince his future wife Regina to go out on a date with him, but it’s safe to say his persistence paid off: they’ve been married for 70 years.

The couple marked the happy occasion on Sunday at Caravelle Restaurant in Midwood with their children, grandchildren and even great-grandchildren smiling on.

“They’re the perfect example of a marriage built on respect and appreciation,” said their son, Michael. “To this day, they still adore each other.”

Although they were both born and raised in Vienna, Austria, and married in what was then called Palestine, the couple chose to settle in Brooklyn in 1940, where Regina cleaned houses and Walter worked as a bike messenger.

When the pair saved enough money, Walter opened a shoulder pad manufacturing business — and in those days, that’s where the money was!

Three children, nine grandchildren and 28 great-grandchildren later, 93-year-old Walter is as taken with 92-year-old Regina as he was when they were teenagers, said son Michael. The far-from-newlyweds still hold hands as they walk down the street, and Walter still wakes up every morning to make sure breakfast is on the table for Regina.

“I told them that things may have changed over the last 70 years, but millions of people get married each year because of couples like you,” Michael said.

Correction

An earlier version of this story mentioned the fictitious city of Vienna, Germany. The real Vienna is the capital of Austria. The Brooklyn Paper regrets the error.