INLAND PEOPLE
Louise and Paul Getz
AGE: 98 and 101
RESIDENCE: Hemet
NOTABLE: The couple celebrated their 80th wedding anniversary on Tuesday, April 21.
Paul Getz was smitten with Louise Failla when he first met her at Torrance High School in 1932. The young students were in the principal’s office for having too many demerits in class. After that meeting, Louise and Paul would try to take the same classes so they could be together.googleoff: all
Their love continued to blossom and three years later they were married on Easter Sunday when Louise was 18 and Paul was 21. On Tuesday, April 21, the couple celebrated their 80th wedding anniversary with a family dinner at their Hemet home.googleoff: all
The Getzes lived in Inglewood for about 35 years before moving to Hemet in 1986. They both worked full-time and raised two daughters, Carol Foster and Marilynn Barreda.googleoff: all
Paul Getz worked at Technicolor and MGM Studios film lab in Culver City, developing reels of motion picture films. In the early years of their marriage, he was a Helms Bakery delivery man, driving through neighborhoods selling freshly baked goods.googleoff: all
Louise Getz worked at Rose Marie Reed Bathing Suit Co. in Inglewood for 10 years, retiring when the company moved to Van Nuys. She was an inspector/supervisor for the final product before it was shipped.googleoff: all
“From an early age, I always remember my parents working together on all the projects they undertook,” said Barreda, a full-time RVer with her husband, Hector. They spend winters in the Palm Springs area.googleoff: all
“I remember them showing love and respect for each other. We always spent our time as a family and did a lot of camping and fishing as young children and through our teens.”googleoff: all
The Getzes took their last camping and fishing trip to the High Sierras in 2006 by motor home.googleoff: all
“Grandpa was always a man’s man – a real sportsman,” Kevin Stark said. “He taught me all his tricks on how to set my pole up whether we were fishing streams in the Sierras or up at Lake Hemet.”googleoff: all
Louise came from a large Italian family with three sisters and two brothers. The Faillas owned the Torrance Family Dairy, and she and her siblings delivered milk with their father. Paul grew up in a large Pennsylvania Dutch/German family with two sisters and two brothers.googleoff: all
“Over the years, we have celebrated their anniversaries with large family celebrations, starting with their 25th,” said Carol Foster, of Agoura. “Not many families get to celebrate an 80th anniversary. We feel truly blessed to have this honor to celebrate this milestone with our parents.”googleoff: all
The couple also has five grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandsons.googleoff: all
When asked about their secret to such a long and happy marriage, Paul Getz replied, “No secret really. When you love someone, you work everything out.”