Seventy Years of Love and Faith
“We love each other.”
Meet Jack and Doris Manzella from the Norridge Citadel corps in Illinois. They’re faithful Salvationists, devoted parents, grandparents and great-grandparents, and as of last year, they’ve been married for 70 years.
Jack and Doris met in 1947 at the Belmont Corps in Chicago when Jack was brought to vacation Bible school by a friend. Within a year, he joined the Boy Scouts program at the corps. Doris was a third-generation Salvationist and a Girl Guard, and spent a lot of time at various events with the group. It didn’t take long for her and Jack to hit it off. Doris began attending the same high school as Jack in 1950, and they became very close friends. They tried to date during those years, but Doris’ parents didn’t approve of Jack and wouldn’t allow it. Despite not being able to date officially, Jack and Doris would sneak out to see each other at friends’ gatherings.
In 1952, Jack enlisted with the Navy and was sent to Guam. Desperate to stay in contact in secret, they wrote letters to each other throughout Jack’s deployment, using a corps member as the intermediary. Doris remembers receiving a handful of Jack’s letters every Wednesday night when she went to the corps for band practice.

When Jack returned after a year and a half, he and Doris decided to get married, but her parents were still opposed. With everyone and everything against them, they knew a traditional wedding wasn’t an option. Jack was only home for 30 days before he was sent to California, so Doris threw caution to the wind and went with him. They eloped to San Diego in 1954.
They were told their relationship wouldn’t last. Now, they have four children, 17 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren—including their son, Larry Manzella, and granddaughter, Stephanie Senn, who are both Salvation Army officers.
So, how have they kept a healthy Christian marriage for more than 70 years? Jack and Doris offer some advice for couples looking to last as long as they have. “A happy wife is a happy life,” Jack jokes. “We never went to bed mad at each other,” he adds, noting that settling their differences before the end of the day has kept them close. “We’re always hugging each other again. Everything is settled.”
Doris says, “Jesus first.” When they were considering marriage, Doris made it clear that her relationship with God would take priority over her relationship with Jack, even saying she would never leave the Army if it came down to it. “I said, ‘You have to know I will never leave my church or God. So, if you’re not willing to go along with that, then I don’t think we can do this.’” Jack was on board, and the rest is history.
Jack and Doris have spent their 70 years of marriage going to church together, traveling and camping with their children and grandchildren. “We love each other,” Doris says. “That’s it, I guess.” And what more could they ask for?