Stephen and Evelyn Bernice Duke have been married for 72 years, and their love story is a valentine that grows more romantic and devoted with each passing year.
Stephen 94, and his wife, 92, shared their story Friday with SoutholdLOCAL while eating lunch during a Valentine’s Day celebration at the Southold Town Senior Center in Mattituck. The couple, who live in Mattituck, were married on December 7, 1941, and their love has been going strong ever since.
While Stephen was born in Mattituck, his wife hails from St. Louis, Missouri. They met when she was visiting a friend in Mattituck. “She was cute,” he said. He caught her eye because he was a basketball player, she said.
“We got married nine months after we met,” Stephen added. The couple eloped to Patchogue, Evelyn said, because Stephen was heading off to the Air Force, where he served for over four years, until World War II ended.
Their families “weren’t too happy” that they eloped, Evelyn said. But marrying meant she was able to live with him while he served in Florida.
“It was romantic, and a lot of fun,” she said. “We had a lot of Army buddies.” Even Evelyn’s sister headed to Florida to join them, where, she, too met her husband.
The couple has spent decades in love; he worked as an auto salesman at Chevrolet and Oldsmobile in Riverhead, while Evelyn had a career in interior design. The two have one son, Paul, as well as two grandsons and five great-grandchildren.
When asked for their secrets to an enduring, happy marriage, the Dukes smile at one another. “We enjoy each other,” Stephen said. “We love dancing.”
Another tip, Evelyn said, is “eating dinner out”; the couple also used to share a love of golf, but, while Evelyn no longer plays, Stephen enjoys his time on the course. “I’m still at it,” he said, even winning a championship at the club.
Every couple has spats, they agreed. “We’ve spoken to each other harshly at times,” Stephen said.
‘I almost knocked him down — with words,” Evelyn said, laughing.
But their memories are colored with love and with an ease that comes from decades of partnership and trust.
Reflecting on her most romantic Valentine’s Day gift, Evelyn said it was not candy or flowers. “It was a red, satin fabric heart he cut out himself.”
Stephen said dancing has been the foundation of a long life together. The couple at one point even studied Ukrainian dance, taking lessons and later, performing together onstage.
It’s the little things, Evelyn said, that mean everything. Even today, she sets up her husband’s coffee pot every morning.
“She’s takes good care of him,” said Luwana Smith, the couple’s aide. “She takes care of his doctor appointments, washes his clothes. You rarely see that type of wife today.”
“She does take good care of me,” Stephen nodded.
Listening as the music played in the senior center, the couple gathered up their valentines, as well as the heart-shaped cookies they’d won for being the longest married couple at the Valentine’s Day celebration. With love in his eyes, Stephen gave advice to other young couples hoping to keep the flame alive after a lifetime together. “Dance together,” he said.
