Marine Couple Tackle Hurdles and Life Challenges to Celebrate 60-Year Love Affair

LEWISBURG, Pa., March 4, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Wilbert & Almaretta Hupp will celebrate their 60^th wedding anniversary on March 21^st. While a six-decade anniversary is always good news, this couple's particular story is filled with hurdles and compounded challenges that defy convention.

In 1951, a local newspaper featured the story of a very young Marine, Wilbert Hupp being deployed to Korea. The paper encouraged locals to write to PFC Hupp to show support and boost morale. A young and impressionable Almaretta Schroeder felt it was her patriotic duty to contribute to the war effort and took it upon herself to write letters to the local boy.  Smitten by the attention of these letters, Wilbert called and showed up one day on Miss Schroeder's porch for a date while on his pre-deployment leave, and the rest, as they say, is history. They went on to wed, have 4 children, 10 grand children, 5 great grand children, and tackle even more challenges along the way.

While serving in Korea, PFC Hupp worked the extremely hazardous 'booby-trap' detail clearing the way for his squad. Thankfully, he returned unscathed from Korea having completed his service and received an honorable discharge from the Marine Corps.

A few years later, Wilbert was dealt an ironic setback: he lost part of one arm and most of his other hand in a farming accident while removing clogged corn husks from a corn picker. In less than six months, he was back to work at his day job and work on the farm. The Marine mentality simply won out and life continued.

Several years later, his fortitude was challenged again, this time when he had to confront a life-altering event for the love of his life, Almaretta. They were attending a local farmer's market when a driver accidently pressed down on the accelerator instead of the brakes and was involved in a horrific 8-car pile-up that crushed most of her lower body and legs. In typical Marine fashion, the couple gritted out another series of hospital visits and countless rehab sessions and just got on with their life.

Wilbert & Almaretta Hupp credit their enduring faith with helping them overcome many of their challenges. The couple will screen a specially made 'Life Movie' on Saturday, March 22^nd at 12:30 PM at the Campus Theatre, 413 Market Street in Lewisburg PA. 200 of their friends and family will be in attendance to celebrate this couples determination and grit, as well as their way of life.

For more information or to arrange an interview with the couple or view a screening copy of the Hupp Life Movie, please contact Stella (Hupp) Collins at 570-490-0284 or stelfla [at] hotmail.com

SOURCE Stella (Hupp) Collins