Gardnerville residents Vera and Jim Gesselman will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary Thursday. They were married Dec. 19, 1953, at First Presbyterian Church in El Monte, Calif.
Jim was a truck driver with the Teamsters and retired from Puente Ready Mix in California. He volunteers with the Ruhenstroth Fire Department and is a driver for the Douglas County Senior Center. He was presented with the State of Nevada Governor’s Senior Samaritan Award in 2011 for his service with the center.
Vera was a computer room coordinator with the Los Angeles Drug Co. in California. She previously wrote the “Click with Vera” column that appeared in the Nevada Appeal. She is a former volunteer with AARP Tax-Aide and was honored by the Douglas County Historical Society in 2005 for significant historical contributions to the quality of life in Douglas County. She participates in a bowling league and line-dances Fridays at Sharkey’s.
The Gesselmans have two children, Deanna Meek-Brien and her husband, Terry Brien, from Louisville, Colo., and one son, Wayne, and his wife, Nancy, from Gardnerville. They have nine grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren. They have lived in Gardnerville for 18 years.
Family members from Nevada, Colorado, California, Hawaii and Florida attended an anniversary party June 9 in Orange, Calif. The party was followed by a vacation in Southern California.