Ohio couple married 65 years die 11 hours apart

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — Relatives of an Ohio couple who died at a nursing home 11 hours apart on the same day said their love story's ending reflects their devotion over 65 years of marriage.

Harold and Ruth Knapke died in their shared room on Aug. 11, days before their 66th anniversary, The Dayton Daily News (http://bit.ly/16KBNAJ ) reported. He was 91, she was 89.

The couple's daughters said they believe their father willed himself to stay by his wife's side despite failing health until they could take the next step in their journey together. He went first — his children saw it as his "final act of love" — and she followed.

"We believe he wanted to accompany her out of this life and into the next one, and he did," daughter Margaret Knapke said.

The couple had known each other as children and began their courtship as pen pals while Harold, known as "Doc," served in the Army during World War II. Ruth would later joke: "I let him chase me until I caught him!"

Her husband became a teacher, coach and athletic director at Fort Recovery Schools, the newspaper said. They raised six children while looking after each other with a devotion that didn't seem to diminish.

A photo taken this summer shows him lying in a bed, arm stretched through a guardrail to hold her hand, as she leans in to press the top of her head to his. When she was ailing, he blessed her each night with holy water, daughter Pat Simon said.

The Knapkes had a joint funeral Mass, with granddaughters carrying Ruth's casket and grandsons carrying Harold's casket. The cemetery procession stopped at the farm house where the couple had lived, and the current owners surprised the family by flying a flag at half-staff to honor the longtime loves.

"It is really just a love story," said Carol Romie, another daughter. "They were so committed and loyal and dedicated, they weren't going to go anywhere without the other one."

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Information from: Dayton Daily News, http://www.daytondailynews.com

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Pa. clown couple ties the knot, no foolin'

LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) — They say only fools rush in, but these two clowns are pretty serious about each other.

Patty Kulwicki reeled Bill Tedeski in — literally, with a fishing pole — as the couple tied the knot Friday at Clownfest 2013, The (Harrisburg) Patriot-News reported.

The bit was one the Pittsburgh couple had performed two years ago at the same festival. When it won first place, Tedeski remembers jokingly suggesting they get married in a similar way.

But this ceremony was no joke — even if the rings were pulled out of a Crack Jack box.

"Clowning just means so much to him," Kulwicki said of Tedeski. "I couldn't think of anything that would make him happier."

Tedeski, who has performed as a clown for 41 years, wore a fake nose, black lipstick, and full clown regalia. Kulwicki wore a flaming red wig and a red dot on her nose, with a lace headband the lone accessory to the same gown she'd worn for the skit.

Tedeski said he's been married before, but Kulwicki is the first wife who has taken part in the clowning with him, and together they are a team. "We mesh so wonderfully," he said.

Guests got in on the act and so did the officiant, a fellow clown.

It was not the first nuptials for Kulwicki and Tedeski, but it was their first clown wedding.

"And the last!" Kulwicki said, laughing.

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Meet the couple that got married thanks to Pinterest

A couple were recently engaged via the social media site Pinterest (GMA)

Lori Brokaw-Stout has been “obsessed” with the photo-sharing, social media site Pinterest since she first launched an account a little more than two years ago. But she had no idea that Pinterest would be the place where her boyfriend Brian Stout would make his wedding proposal.

“My Pinterest obsession is kind of a running joke amongst friends,” Brokaw-Stout told Yahoo! News in a phone interview. “I check it on my phone when I’m waiting in line at the grocery store, pretty much anywhere I have a moment of downtime.”

Of course, Pinterest is primarily used by women. So, Brokaw-Stout was surprised when her then-boyfriend Brian said he had created an account and suggested she follow him. She did so and was surprised to find that his first (and only) pin was an eight-foot long marriage proposal.

“It said, ‘Will you marry me? Re-pin if yes.’ It was a perfect way for him to propose to me and I did not see it coming,” she said.

The actual proposal was more elaborate. Brian had secretly recruited Lori’s friends and family to hold up signs, which read, “Say YES!” to a series of different topics related to the couple.

The couple married June 2 and Lori said everything has been going great for them although there has been an unexpected bit of fallout.

“It served him right because he’s now just as addicted as I am,” she said. “We’ll scroll through pins and read them to each other.”

Their marriage is ultimately another example of how social media sites are changing the ways individuals interact with each other online. Less than 10 years ago, it was still largely a social taboo to admit you met your partner via an online dating site. Whereas now, statistics suggest that around 40 million people in the U.S. alone use the Internet to search for potential mates.

Since it was first launched in 2010, Pinterest has grown to an average of more than 10 million daily users. In the 2012 presidential election, both Ann Romney and Michelle Obama created accounts to document the campaign. And while a 2012 study found that more than 80 percent of the site’s users are women, the number of men using Pinterest does seem to be growing.

For example, Richard Wong told Yahoo! News he used the site to help plan a first date with his girlfriend.

“I wanted to cook her dinner for one of our first dates,” he said. “I’m not a great chef myself.”

Wong says the pair then shared their meal ideas, which served as a catalyst to the relationship.

“She learned a lot about me from my page,” he said. “We have the comfort of knowing our tastes are similar.”

Wong, who works in marketing, says he’s also been using the site to come up with ideas for clothes for work and other subjects that can sometimes prove to be a mystery to men.

“I just tapped into a great market for guys,” he said. “Females are a bit more visually oriented than guys. But the site has helped me think about things that I wouldn’t ordinarily consider, like, how can you cater your outfits if you’re going to work then meeting up with friends afterward?”

And if things start to get too routine for Wong or Brokaw-Stout in their respective relationships, social media might have a solution for that as well.

“I call it my ‘romance board',” Jessica Murfin told Yahoo! News. “My husband and I have been together since high school. So, we use it to come up with date ideas and add a new level of spontaneity to our relationship.”

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Meet Norma and Norman Burmah, the longest-living married couple in the U.S.

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
BERLIN (Reuters) - Half a life-time ago, artist Yoko Ono lay in an Amsterdam hotel bed with husband John Lennon, staging a week-long "bed-in" for peace and feeling they were very alone in their activism. Today, Ono, whose own energy for campaigning has never tired, sees a world full of activists, maintaining her energy and faith in humanity. "When John and I did the bed-in, not many people were with us. But now there are so many activists, I don't know anyone who is not an activist," she told Reuters in an interview in Berlin on Monday, her 80th birthday. ...

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