A Jewish-American couple with a combined age of 202 has tied the knot, making the pair what is believed to be the “oldest aggregate-age couple” on record to marry.
Marjorie Fiterman, 102, and Bernie Littman, 100, from Philadelphia, got married on Sunday at the senior living facility where they met.
The couple met at a costume party and were in a relationship for nine years before they wed (Photo: Sarah Sicherman)
Announcing the centenarians’ nuptials had taken place, Littman’s granddaughter, Sarah Sicherman, remarked that “with so much sadness [and] fear in the world, it’s nice to be able to share something that brings people joy”.
In another post, she wrote: "Today my 100-year-old grandfather married his 102-year-old girlfriend! Bernie Littman and Marjorie Fiterman live on the same floor of a senior living facility in Philadelphia. They both had 60-plus years of marriage to their first spouses and found love again at 100 years old!”
Littman was married for 65 years to his late wife Bernice and shared with her two children, four grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
He met Fiterman at a costume party and the pair had their first date on the day that one of Littman's great-granddaughters was born.
Sicherman said her grandfather and his new wife were "so lucky to have found each other and be a support to each other, especially during the pandemic", and the whole family was “thrilled” Littman had found a companion in Fiterman.
They had assumed however that given the couple’s age, they would live out their days unmarried, so it was “certainly a surprise” when they decided to take the next step.
Four generations of Bernie Littman's family gathered to celebrate as the centenarians tied the knot (Photo: Sarah Sicherman)
Rabbi Adam Wohlberg, who officiated at the wedding, told US broadcaster Fox News: "Most of the couples I marry these days met on some kind of dating app. I much prefer the old ways. You live in the same building, you bump into each other, and you fall in love."
Rather than delivering the type of advice he might normally offer couples at a wedding, Wohlberg told the pair in front of four generations of Littman’s family who had gathered for the ceremony: "Each of you has already amassed a lifetime of wisdom and experience, and your attitudes, feelings and opinions are pretty well formulated at this point."
The rabbi added: "That’s not to suggest that you won’t continue to learn and develop as people. But I think it is safe to say each of you, what you know and understand about each other, is exactly what the future holds for you and your partner. And what you have determined you love about each other — well, those things are not about to change.”
Addressing Fiterman, whose previous husband died in 1999, Wohlberg said: "I don’t know if you ever imagined finding love again after Morris passed from this world. But then Bernie appeared and you realised that someone incredibly special had come into your life."
The rabbi also noted that the two had nearly crossed paths many years before they met, having both attended the University of Pennsylvania at the same time.
"I am already picturing the two of you on the cover of the alumni magazine’s next edition," he joked.
The duo are believed to have broken the record for the oldest aggregate age of a newly married couple.
Sicherman said: "Our application is pending, but we believe it is the Guinness World Record for ‘oldest aggregate age couple to marry’ by about eight years.”
The record is currently held by Sussex couple Doreen and George Kirby, who had a combined age of 194 years and 279 days when they said “I do” in June 2015, according to the Guinness World Records website.
