Mr and Mrs Paul Kolbe

Celebrate 60th Anniversary

Lois and Paul Kolbe of Newtown celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on March 2. The couple has resided in Newtown for the past 19 years after having moved from Norwalk, following their retirement. Mr Kolbe was a design machinist for Pilot Engineering in South Norwalk and Mrs Kolbe was a kindergarten teacher at Jefferson Elementary School in Norwalk.

The couple has two daughters, Marilyn McCarthy and her husband, Bill, of Newtown and Linda Kasiewicz and her husband, Allen, of Wolfeboro, N.H. They are proud grandparents of three young men, Alden and Christopher Kasiewicz of Portland, Ore., and Simon Kasiewicz who lives with his wife, Julie, and son in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Originally from Akron, Ohio, the couple wed after Mr Kolbe returned from World War II. Mr Kolbe served in the 83rd Infantry Division of the US Army during the war until he was injured on July 8, 1944, near Omaha Beach when his badly outnumbered regiment faced Hitler’s Elite 17th Panzers; 70 percent of the company was lost.

After hospitalization in England, he returned across the Atlantic aboard the Queen Mary, unescorted, because the ship was fast enough to outrun the U-boats. He returned to Akron mid-February 1945 following months of recuperation and gave his bride-to-be two weeks to plan a wedding.

Mr and Mrs Kolbe still have many friends in the Akron and Norwalk areas. They both worked for the city of Akron when they were first married, Mrs Kolbe in purchasing and Mr Kolbe in the fire department. Later Mr Kolbe was employed by Diamond Match Company in Barberton and then transferred by the company to Connecticut.

The couple have been active volunteers in retirement, giving time to the Visiting Nurses Association, Connecticut Antique Machinery Association (CAMA), and Meals on Wheels. They are members of the Valley Presbyterian Church in Brookfield.

A small family gathering marked the happy occasion of their anniversary.