SD. The family headed by Juan Apolinar (Polin) Peña and Nelia Ramirez Franco announced the celebration of the couple’s 70th wedding anniversary on September 29, a day in 1941 when they were both 18 years of age.

Born and raised in the town of Baitoa, Santiago province, they moved to the community of Cevicos in the 1950s, and immigrated to New York in 1960, where they lived for 39 years, Peña working as a longshoreman, and Ramirez as a seamstress to raise their seven children.

The stalwart couple, whose parents were the late Juan Peña and Chicha Perez, and Blas Ramirez and Agripina (Titina) Franco, returned to their country in the 1980s, and has lived in Santo Domingo since.

The couple’s offspring are successful entrepreneurs, in businesses ranging from automobiles to exclusive fashion boutiques.