Sun City couple’s love story encompasses 70 married years

Some unions were meant to be.

Sun City Summerlin residents Phillip and Helen Rosenberg recently celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary. They were married March 18, 1945.

The couple hail from Queens, N.Y., where they met when Phillip was 16 and Helen was 15. They met at a youth center that each frequented with friends after school.

“He wanted to walk me home,” Helen recalled, “Only, his friend, Mattie, wanted to walk me home, too. Obviously, I chose Phil. I thought he was cute.”

The attraction was mutual, and Phillip and Helen, who were enrolled in different high schools, ended up attending group events to see each other. When they got a little older, they began dating as a couple, going to the roller rink, the movies and Broadway plays. They said there was never a question that they were meant for each other.

Phillip said he had no idea what he wanted to do after he graduated, “if I wanted to go to college or pursue a career.”

He opted to go to a trade school through the National Youth Administration program and studied aerodynamics and aircraft mechanics in Maine. That led to a job with American Airlines as a hydraulics and aircraft maintenance worker.

World War II was heating up, and he joined the Army Air Corps and became a B-17 pilot, based in England and flying missions over Europe. But he said he never forgot this girl back home. Phillip wrote to Helen every week, using the military’s special Victory Mail, or V-mail.

“It was exciting to receive his mail,” Helen said. “Whether he would come back in one piece was always a concern.”

In 1945, after 35 missions, he was allowed a three-week furlough to visit home. Helen found a wedding dress, and they were married in Brooklyn at the President’s Chateau. After a temporary assignment in Atlantic City, where the Army put up wives such as Helen in a hotel along the boardwalk, Phillip was sent to Lake Lure, N.C., for three weeks. The hotel was the same one where the movie “Dirty Dancing” was later filmed.

“That was our honeymoon, a three-week honeymoon,” she said.

“All expenses were paid except for hers,” Phillip said. “… We pushed the two beds together.”

After the war, they settled into life in the suburbs and raised two children, Susan and Scott. The only major stress, they said, was when Scott was in a serious motorcycle accident at 21 and spent a year recuperating.

Their children would give them four grandchildren, whose own marriages resulted in five great-grandchildren. The couple retired to Sun City Summerlin in 1992.

Then it was time to explore hobbies. Phillip took a liking to working with stained glass, and their home features some of his work. Helen joined the dance company. They also traveled to Europe and Hawaii.

The couple celebrated their 70th anniversary at the JW Marriott with a family dinner at Spiedini Ristorante.

Pat Lurie has been their next-door neighbor since 2003.

“They are a delightful couple; there’s so much love there,” Lurie said. “… They’re always together. They’re like the Bobbsey Twins. It’s wonderful to see.”

A few years ago, Phillip had health issues that resulted in a scary diagnosis: non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. It was treatable but not curable. He recently finished his last scheduled round of chemotherapy and is in remission.

“It was pretty tough,” he said. “But she was always there. … She’s considerate and very strong. She was a rock.”

What’s the secret to being married 70 years?

“We’re fortunate,” Helen said. “We have good chemistry. Plus, there’s a little give-and-take. … And romance is very important — flowers, love notes, compliments.”

To reach Summerlin Area View reporter Jan Hogan, email jhogan@viewnews.com or call 702-387-2949.