Vows repeated 100 times over

February 14, 2011 at 12:01a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

If you wanted to crunch important numbers and dates about St. Patrick Church, try these: 100, 2,544, 1911 and 2011.

The church, 1420 Oak Hill Ave. on the city’s South Side, was established in 1911 and is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.

One hundred also represents the estimated number of couples who had made their vows in the church and who attended a special 10 a.m. Mass on Sunday to be recognized and honored.

Also attending were hundreds of children, grandchildren and others.

Why is 2,544 significant? That’s the total number of years the couples have been married, noted Kathy Price, an event coordinator.

Bob and Ann Metzinger of Canfield have been married nearly 61 of those years and were among several hundred people who attended the 90-minute marriage liturgy.

Other than the absence of iron gates near the altar, the church where the couple got hitched April 29, 1950, looks much the same, observed Bob Metzinger, 83, who also recalled having met his wife when they were South High School students.

Bob Metzinger had fond memories of having sung in a boys choir as a teenager. More recently, the two renewed their vows on their 50th anniversary at St. Pat’s, he said, adding that their regular church is St. Michael in Canfield.

So, what is required to maintain a happy, vibrant relationship for more than six decades?

“The secret to a long marriage is two words: Yes, dear,” Ann Metzinger, 80, said with laughter.

Positive church memories mean so much to Sheila Stotler that she and her husband, Jim Dugan, traveled more than 2,000 miles to attend Sunday’s Mass.

The couple, of Scottsdale, Ariz., met online and have been married about five years, said Stotler, a 1976 Ursuline High School graduate who served on the church’s parish council.

“This was my church before I left, and it was extremely important to get married at St. Pat’s,” she said.

Getting Stotler interested in Dugan took a bit of persistence on his part. In addition, work and travels prevented the two from seeing much of each other for a while, Stotler recalled.

Nevertheless, the two were married July 1, 2006, by the Rev. Edward Noga, pastor, less than a year after they met, she added.

“He kept asking me out and asking me out,” she said with a chuckle.

The music during Sunday’s gathering was overwhelming and elicited positive memories, Stotler said, adding that she also plans to see family and friends during her visit here.

June 16, 1973, was a very busy day for Jim and Angie Boyle of Canfield, who spent the morning and afternoon graduating and receiving bachelor’s degrees from Youngstown State University, then walking down the aisle at St. Patrick Church, respectively.

“It was a wonderful day for us,” recalled Jim Boyle, an assistant principal and dean of students at John F. Kennedy High School in Warren.

The Boyles, who are members of St. Michael Church, met when she was an organist at St. Pat’s in high school and he saw her playing, Angie Boyle fondly recalled.

One of the biggest memories Sunday’s Mass brought back for her was the playing of Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy,” which was the same song performed during the couple’s marriage ceremony, said Angie Boyle, vice president of human resources for Affinity Medical Center in Massillon.

“It was a nice event that focused on successful marriages,” she added.

Delivering the homily to the packed church was Father Noga, who noted that the marriage length for the couples ranged from one week to about 64 years.

In a touching moment, Father Noga asked the couples to stand face to face and renew their vows.

A reception followed the Mass.