Gesselmans celebrate 60 years of marriage

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.