The love story of Oree and Lena McRae began when they were in high school during the Jim Crow days in the South. This month, the almost 100-year-old man and his 97- year-old wife from Union City, celebrated their 79th wedding anniversary.
The couple got married at the ages of 20 and 17 respectively, and has been together since then. Oree told Fox KTVU what he thought of Lena the first time they met; “Ooh, she was pretty! One of the best looking on the campus.” Lena also admitted that she knew a lot about him when they met and found him quite handsome.
They courted for three years and got married shortly after in a ceremony officiated by a justice of the peace. Oree said, “When I first asked her to marry me, that’s the woman I wanted to be with. And after we got married, we just stayed together. We stuck together all these years.”
They left their hometown in Arkansas, relocated to Detroit, and later moved to the Bay Area, where they lived in their home in Bayview, San Francisco, for 3 decades. However, the couple has been living in Union City for the past thirty years.
The old married couple has 6 children, 25 grandchildren, 15-great grandchildren, and three great-great-grandchildren.
The two love birds are happy together and shared that their Christian bond and similarities have been a strong factor in maintaining their relationship.
Oree anticipates his 100th birthday on June 26, and Lena, her 97th in October this year.
