True love still exists: Dayton couple celebrates 70th wedding anniversary

Ron and Faye Duncan’s love for each other has continued to stay strong throughout seven decades of marriage.

Credit: Beth Duncan

Credit: Beth Duncan

If you ask Ron and Faye Duncan about celebrating 70 years of marriage, they will ask you to pinch them to make sure they aren’t dreaming.

The Duncans, both lifelong residents of Dayton, celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary Wednesday.

Ron, 90, and Faye, 88, started dating in 1950. The couple met when Ron was in eighth grade and Faye was in fifth grade. Ron described the first time he saw Faye was on the playground at recess during his eighth-grade year. He laid eyes on her, and ever since he said he always gave her “goo-goo” eyes.

Ron never stopped having those “goo-goo” eyes for Faye, and they got married on Jun. 9, 1951, when Ron was 20 and Faye was just 18.

“We thought we were so mature,” Faye said in laughter while looking at Ron, who nodded in agreement with a smirk on his face. The couple’s sense of humor was something they said helped them have a successful marriage.

“Humor is something that has keeps our family close together,” Faye said.

The couple feel very blessed to have made it to this milestone in their marriage. It is something they were nervous they wouldn’t be able to celebrate after Ron was diagnosed with terminal cancer last year.

The Duncan family has been deeply involved in the Dayton community for decades. Ron served as a high school and college umpire and referee in the area for many years, while Faye has written several books. Their oldest son Bill Duncan currently serves as Oakwood mayor and their son Tom is the former chief finance officer at Premier Health. Their son Joe is retired from owning his own business in Troy, and their daughter Beth Duncan owns a small business in Washington Twp.

When asked how they kept a successful marriage for 70 years, Ron and Faye both said the same thing.

“We completely backed each other’s interests,” Ron said. “Faye had interests and I had interests, and we were both always supporting each other.”

Along with the couple’s four children, they have nine grandchildren, and they are expecting their 15th great-grandchild later this year. Watching their family grow is something that Ron and Faye cherish.

Throughout the interview with the couple, they constantly cracked jokes with one another. It was if they were still in the honeymoon stage of their relationship, even after all this time.

“When people ask how we have been married this long, I always say that she does what she wants to do and I do what she wants to do,” Ron said with a grin on his face.

When asked about what they would say to future generations about how to find long-lasting, authentic, and true love, Ron and Faye had great pieces of advice.

“If you haven’t had the chance to witness true love, then you need to decide that finding true love is what you are going to do,” Faye said. “If you want to have a good life, it’s you who has to try and make it the way you want it to be.”

The couple were looking forward to celebrating the special occasion with all 46 of their closet family members Wednesday. Despite Ron no longer being able to walk due to his cancer, the couple hoped to share a special dance together to celebrate 70 years of cracking jokes, watching their family grow, and making “goo-goo” eyes at one another.

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