Skip NavigationBud and Gloria Baron at the Apsley.Courtesy Bud and Gloria Baron
Gloria and Buddy Baron met by chance.
The two were working in the New York City school system when they decided to take the same class for school administration run by the city’s board of education in April 1956.
Gloria, born in January 1927, had grown up in Sea Gate, Brooklyn. Buddy, born in July 1929, was originally from Passaic, New Jersey. His family moved to Brooklyn after the death of his father when he was 10 years old.
“In a large, two-story lecture hall, we spotted each other,” Buddy tells CNBC Make It over email about that first meeting. “I climbed down from my seat in the balcony and approached Gloria, who had been eyeing me from below, wondering who I was.”
The two started seeing each other, meeting up almost every day and night for weeks, he says. For the people around them, “it was obvious that we were deeply in love.” They got married four months later, on August 18, 1956.
Gloria would ultimately go on to teach classes for gifted children, while Buddy pursued a career in school administration. They eventually moved to Long Island, where they raised their four kids.
The Barons will be celebrating 70 years of marriage this August. They now live at the Apsley senior living facility in Manhattan. Here’s what’s helped keep their relationship strong.
‘Enter marriage with eyes fully open’
The Barons’ marriage was not without its challenges.
Buddy got his private pilot’s license in 1951 while serving on active duty in the Navy during the Korean War. He had just bought a two-seat, single-engine airplane when the two met.
Early on in their courtship, Buddy took Gloria out on a ride over the New York Harbor and the Statue of Liberty.
“Unknown to me, Gloria had an extreme fear of heights,” he says, adding that, “when we reached an altitude of 200 feet, Gloria’s screams made a return to the ground imperative.” When they got married, he sold his plane and gave up flying till much later in life.
Young Bud and Gloria Baron at Sea Gate beach in Brooklyn.Courtesy Bud and Gloria Baron
Still, the two never let disagreements get in the way of their relationship.
“As I look back over the years and the beautiful memories,” says Buddy, “I cannot recall a single, serious argument between us. She is still my girl!”
As far as advice for younger couples goes, “things have changed a lot since we married,” he says. “Women now compete for jobs and careers equally with men, so married life is very different.” Many people also choose not to marry at all, or to get married much older, he adds.
“Enter marriage with eyes fully open and clearly understand the challenges,” he says. One way to do so is to ask questions early on in the relationship and make sure you are aligned, experts suggest.
When you first meet someone, relationship expert Natassia Miller previously told CNBC Make It, try asking questions like who are the kinds of people that you like to surround yourself with? What do you spend most of your time thinking about?
You can also ask financial questions to gauge alignment on money, family law and divorce attorney Jacqueline Combs previously told Make It. Ask questions like what is a big expense that you’re saving up for? What was a financial surprise you’ve had to deal with? If you won the lottery today, what would you spend the money on?
This real talk can help ensure you know who you’re building a life with — and that’s something that doesn’t change.
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