Kenner couple celebrate 64 years with their large Italian family

What does it take to be married for 64 years?

Just ask Kathleen and Vincent Piazza who were married in New Orleans on Nov. 9, 1957, and have nine children, 41 grandchildren and 23 great grandchildren.

“The husband gives the wife the right-of-way, all the time,” joked Vincent Piazza, 85, who supported his family by first working in a family macaroni factory, in the commercial seafood business with his father and uncle and then his own business with his sons.

“You have to stay close to the Lord, and everything else will fall into place,” Kathleen, 82, added. “You have good times and very bad times, but we never missed Sunday Mass, even on vacation.”

Faith is important
The two said they didn’t know each other until they met at a St. Dominic Parish teen dance in 1955, recalled Kathleen, whose maiden name is Sunseri. Boys stood on one side of the gym, and girls on the other.

“I saw this one boy standing there, and he was kind of looking at me,” Kathleen said. “The next song, he came and asked me to dance. I thought he was cute. My girlfriends told me at school the next day, they noticed him and how cute he was.”

They didn’t kiss that first night, but the couple told a funny story about how – at one of the dances – a sailor wanted to dance with Kathleen and asked Vincent for permission.

“I said yes,” Vincent said, smirking. “He was ready to go to war. That was it. He didn’t ask her again – he got shipped off.”

They knew they were meant for each other, Vincent said, and, in 1956, he proposed, hiding the ring in dessert.

“We went to the Monteleone Hotel to see Dorothy Lamour,” Vincent said. “They brought the dessert. It was a piece of coconut cake. I told her there was something in it.”

Vincent was the only boy to go on the Sunseri family vacation to Biloxi.

Shared faith with children
The Piazzas passed on their faith – ingrained at St. Dominic Elementary and Sacred Heart of Jesus High School for Kathleen, and Sts. Peter and Paul and St. Cecilia elementary schools and Holy Cross High School for Vincent – to their children.
 
“We both had a good Catholic upbringing,” Kathleen said. “We were fortunate our parents could afford it, though it might not have been easy. … It means a lot to have that religious training every day. At Sacred Heart, as part of the curriculum, we would meet at 6:45 and go to 7 a.m. Mass” on first Fridays.

The Piazzas’ nine children – Liz, Vincent, Cindy, Callin, Paul, Rene, Kathleen, Bryan and Nicholas – were born between 1958-79, the first three in three years.

“Then we went from three to six to nine,” Vincent said. “God said it’s going to work out all right.”

Their children attended Catholic elementary schools at St. Christopher the Martyr and St. Clement of Rome, and Archbishop Chapelle, Archbishop Rummel and Jesuit high schools.

“That’s where they got their catechism,” Kathleen said.

“And, the values of being Catholic,” Vincent added.

“The children were a blessing,” Kathleen said. “They added so much joy to our lives. There were good times and bad times when you didn’t know what you were going to do. The blessings were so much more than the obstacles. … You can get over them if you have faith.”

Family time means much
Their son Rene said family vacations are among his fondest memories, exposing him and his siblings to experiences beyond New Orleans. Among the highlights were seeing singer/comedian Kay Ballard at a nightclub, the Grand Ole Opry and the Grand Canyon, where his sister Liz slipped and almost fell in before Vincent quickly grabbed her.

“Whenever I go on vacation, I think of our family vacations,” Rene said.

Vincent and Kathleen have also traveled to Rome to see Pope John Paul II on his 25th anniversary in 2003, and have traveled to Medjugorje.

Like many Italian families, Sunday dinner is a gathering time for as many Piazzas as can make it. Kathleen said it is not uncommon to have 25 people on any given Sunday at their Kenner home, where they have lived for 11 years.

“Italians are like that,” Rene said. “They keep families together.”

“Family is very important,” Kathleen said. “I think of our five generations. That’s a family that goes a long way. If you need somebody to help you, you reach out to each other,” Kathleen said.

“The kids help us a lot,” Vincent, who was born in a leap year (1936), said. “Family members go to the grocery, take us to the doctor. We’re very fortunate.”

The two now are parishioners at Divine Mercy Parish down the street from their Kenner home, though their first parish together was St. Dominic, followed by St. Christopher and St. Clement of Rome.

The Piazzas’ advice to couples getting married: “It takes two people to live together from different backgrounds for awhile to get to know one another,” Kathleen said, “so be patient.”

And, she said, don’t feel bad if you do wrong things: “You move on.”

She said having the same faith helps, too.

“When you marry someone within your religion, you have to have common ground to believe in the Lord, go to Mass every Sunday and go to confession,” Kathleen said. “I really think religion sustained us in all our problems. … You really get blessed to carry on in your daily life by giving one hour.”

[email protected]