They Know How To Make Marriage Work

Hank and Florence Peasley of Kensington celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on July 5. The couple was married at Holy Cross Church in New Britain, and had their reception at the Hedges, a restaurant that was located just beyond the Stanley Golf course. The attendants wore white gowns and carried baskets of red carnations.

Hank served in the elite US Army, 10th Mountain Division Ski Troops in Italy during World War II. After the war, he returned to his home in Maine, and graduated from the University of Maine at Orono on the GI bill. He relocated to New Britain in 1953 to take a job as the personnel director at Landers, Frary, and Clark, the New Britain manufacturer of a wide range of Universal household products. In 1963, GE bought out Landers, and shortly after Hank took a job as the Assistant Director of the New Britain/Berlin United Way.

Following his tenure there, he became the Development Director at Mt. St. John, a residential school for boys in Deep River, Connecticut. In his retirement he turned his painting and wallpapering hobby into a vocation. Hank (2 months shy of 90) still works a few hours a week at the John Boyle Paint Company, his second home. He is a trustee/ member of the Berlin VFW, and collects the most money on poppy day. He also helps place the flags on the graves of deceased veterans in the local cemeteries for Memorial Day.

Florence graduated from Saint Joseph College with a degree in biology. She worked at the New Britain General Hospital Histology lab until she started her family. When her children were in middle school she began a long career as a substitute teacher, and then as a special education paraprofessional in the Berlin Public Schools, a job which took her to retirement. Florence continues to be an active member of the Berlin Garden Club, and still assists with the planting work brigade at the local monuments in May.

Florence and Hank are loyal members of St. Paul’s Church in Kensington. They have two children, a daughter Nancy Driska, with whom they share a home, and a son, John Peasley who lives in New Britain. They have one granddaughter, Leah Driska who resides in Brookline, Massachusetts.

The couple celebrated their anniversary at the spot where they have enjoyed many anniversary celebrations. That spot is at Tanglewood, the summer home of The Boston Symphony Orchestra. They will have a gourmet picnic lunch on the rolling lawn in the Berkshires, and raise a glass to toast their long married life. Hank will toast with his Avery’s Root beer, and Florence with a glass of Chardonnay. After lunch they will head to the shed to hear the Pops concert featuring vocalist, Bernadette Peters. Yes, life is good for the Peasleys.