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© St. Petersburg Times, published July 12, 2002
Connie and Bob McDonald of Tarpon Springs celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary recently with a renewal of vows conducted by their sons, the Rev. Danny McDonald and David McDonald. They were married June 8, 1952, in Rockville, Md.
They came here in 1957 from Rockville.
He retired as a manger with Florida Power Corp., and she is an actor in television commercials and local dinner theater productions. He also taught at National Louis and Trinity Colleges of Illinois. She assists the chaplains at Helen Ellis Memorial Hospital, Tarpon Springs; North Bay Medical Center, New Port Richey; and Mease Countryside Hospital, Safety Harbor.
They are members of First United Methodist Church of Tarpon Springs.
They have three children and six grandchildren.
Ruth and Ralph C. Hampton of Clearwater celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary with a party at the Hampton Inn, Clearwater, attended by 65 friends and family members. Many of the guests were from Imperial Pines where the couple has lived for 27 years. Following the party they visited Victoria, British Columbia. After they eloped June 13, 1942, to Elkton, Md., her father said, "It will never last." They came to St. Petersburg in 1952 from Philadelphia and moved to Clearwater when they retired in 1985.
He worked as a branch manager for a local electronics parts distribution firm, and she worked as a branch manager and a vice president in a savings and loan company. He was an engineer-gunner in the Army Air Force during World War II and served in Europe.
They have three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Dorothy and Gordon Gregg of Largo recently celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary. They were married June 19, 1937, at the home of the bride's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Bertrand H. Stebbins, in Oneida, N.Y., by the Rev. George Brown Swimner, pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Oneida. They were winter residents here for more than 30 years and moved in 1998 to Gulfview Mobile Home Park in Largo.
Elsie (Johnson) and the Rev. Thorlief Harberg of Largo celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary with a weeklong gathering of family and friends, including guests from Norway. The event culminated in a dinner catered by Banquet Masters at the Lake House at Lakeview of Largo.
They were married June 20, 1937, at Central Moravian Church of Bethlehem, Pa., in a double ceremony performed by the late Right Rev. Paul De Schwienitz. At the same time, the groom was ordained as a Moravian clergyman.
They came here in 1980 from Winston-Salem, N.C.
They were missionaries from 1937 to 1941 to the Upik Eskimos of the lower Kuskokwim region of west Alaska. In 1938, he was elected to the First Alaska Provincial Board.
She is a consecrated acolyte of the Moravian Church, licensed to perform all ministerial duties with or in place of her husband, and she has done both.
They ministered from 1941 to 1966 in churches in Daggett, Mich.; Northfield, Minn.; Stockton, Wis.; and Watertown, Wis.
In 1966 he became general secretary of the Moravian Church Board of Christian Education and Evangelism, and in 1970 he was elected president of the Eastern District Executive Board and vice president of the Provincial Elders Conference of the Moravian Church, where he served the northern province for eight years.
He retired as founding director of Sunnyside Ministry, a social service agency of the southern province located in Winston-Salem.
They had three children, the late Frederick, Charles of Brookfield, Wis., and Kristen Van Orden of Philadelphia; eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
He graduated from Moody Bible Institute, Chicago, and St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn., and was awarded an honorary doctorate in 1972 by the Moravian College and Theological Seminary.
They are members of Anona United Methodist Church of Largo, where he served five years as assistant pastor and pastor of visitation until 1997. They remained active until last year in the church's Care Giving Ministry and are members of Lodge 562 Sons of Norway.
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