Love renewed

When she and her husband, Howard, married 68 years ago, "there was no to-do about it," said Laura Dornan.

It was different yesterday as the Dornans and two other couples renewed their wedding vows and kissed to the delight and applause of those attending the ceremony at Leahi Hospital.

Joining the Dornans in reaffirming promises "to love each other unto eternity" were Vincent and Dolores Clark, married 47 years, and George (Hirotoshi) and Annie Tamura, who celebrated their 50th anniversary in February.

Officiating was the Rev. Bernadette K. Park, who said, "We are gathered here today to celebrate one of life's greatest moments, to give recognition to the worth and beauty of love."

The three couples exemplify the theme of a weeklong Nursing Home Week celebration -- "Love is Ageless," said Vincent Lee, Oahu region chief executive officer for Hawaii Health Systems Corp. He said they "made the commitment to stay together in spite of past, present and future challenges."

How have they managed that?

Annie Tamura, 78, said she and her 86-year-old husband "don't have fights like other couples." And if they do have a disagreement, she smiled, "I let him win."

"Each has to give in," said Dolores Clark, 77, explaining her husband Vincent, 84, always tells her, "Don't sweat the small stuff."

Howard Dornan, 95, said happy couples can get past the rough patches.

Mary Gadam, the Dornans' daughter, said her father dated her mother's two older sisters in a dairy-farming community in New York until her mother "snagged him for herself."

Laura Dornan, 85, said because she is 10 years younger than her husband, "he said he had to wait until I grew up."

Gadam said her parents worked very hard, raising her and a brother. They moved to Hawaii in 1970. Her father managed the Mariners Cove Bay Club in Hawaii Kai for 20 years until retiring in 1977. Her mother was a caregiver at Arcadia.

In 1993, her mother became critically ill and her father "took on an unfamiliar role as caregiver," she said. They moved to an assisted living facility in 2001 and six months ago were able to take two openings at Leahi Hospital, Gadam said.

Dolores Clark said she met her husband in a restaurant on a blind date in Trenton, Mich., in 1961. She told a friend who arranged the meeting she never went on blind dates but her friend said, "'He's such a nice man.' And she was right."

Vincent Clark said he proposed six weeks later. "I didn't want her to get away." He hid a ring in a Big Mac at McDonald's, he said. "I'll never forget it," his wife said. "I started to eat and he said, 'You'd better look inside.'"

Both had been married once before. He had a daughter and she had two sons. They often vacationed in Hawaii because he loved the ocean, and moved here 12 years ago, Dolores Clark said.

Last year, he had a stroke and has been a resident at Leahi Hospital since January, she said.

George and Annie Tamura met in 1957 through a traditional Japanese pre-arranged marriage at Restaurant Cafe Nagisa, owned by her father, on Kapahulu Avenue. They were married seven months later and have one son and one daughter.

George was a cook for many years at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. He suffered aggressive dementia in 2001 and was admitted to Leahi Hospital in September that year.

"It was something surprising," Annie Tamura said as the couples shared cake and toasts after the ceremony. "It was wonderful."