Love for a Lifetime

 It’s February and love is in the air. With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, we wanted to inspire you with a few long-time Naperville couples who are still deeply in love – and share their secrets for keeping the flame alive.

Betty and George Jurgensen
Back in 1947, two kids in their twenties were out at Chicago’s Trianon Ballroom when one spotted the other.

“I was about to leave and I saw a girl come up the stairs,” George, 89, said. “She was quite attractive and I decided to ask her to dance. We danced the jitterbug.”

The girl was Betty, now 85, and she felt a connection right away.

“He came up and asked me to dance,” she said. “He was nice and tall. I gave him my phone number and we started dating. I liked everything about him. We got married six months after we met.”

The couple had a daughter and spent their summers going to Centennial Beach in Naperville. Pretty soon their daughter moved to our city and they followed suit.

“We moved to Naperville in January 1982,” Betty said. “We hung out with a group that called themselves the Beach Bums. We would have potlucks inside in the winter and on the beach in the summer. We still have pot lucks with our friends.”

Today, Betty and George live at Independence Village in Naperville, and are very happy.

“We are both very easy going,” George said. “We have a lot of friends and we get out a lot.”

Rosalie and Gil Ducato
Stroll into Reliable Home Improvement at 1300 W. Ferry Road in Naperville and you will most likely be greeted by the friendly faces of owners Rosalie and Gil Ducato, a couple married 46 years.

“We met in grade school,” Rosalie, 63, said. “We went to different schools and a friend of mine mentioned to me that there were some kids she was paling around with. I went and saw my husband. I saw his blue eyes and fell in love. I was 13 and he was 16 years old.”

Both from downtown Chicago, they began dating and married four years later.

“We got married at City Hall in Chicago,” Gil, 66, said. “We were both underage and had to have our parents sign for us and I don’t think they were too happy about it.”

The couple had five children and moved to Naperville in 1990. They now have 12 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Seeing movies and going to dinner are some of their favorite Naperville pastimes.

“We go to Showplace, usually about once or twice a week,” Rosalie said. “Traverso’s is one of our favorite restaurants. We go there and either order pasta dishes or pizza. Sometimes we order both.”

Both gush about each other like newlyweds.

“She is a very warm and giving person,” Gil said.

“He is very funny and he’s a troublemaker,” said Rosalie. “I mean that in the nicest way.”

Manal Ibrahim LaVacca and Anthony LaVacca
It all started back in 1997 at a dental conference in San Diego. Manal, 42, was living in Chicago and Anthony, 41, in New York City. They met briefly and went on their way. Over the next several years, they would run into each other at various conferences around the country—getting to know each other a little better each time.

“We became friends more than anything,” Manal said. “I was sort of the shy girl from Chicago and he was the outgoing guy from New York. Every time I talked to him in person or on the phone I thought he was such a nice guy.”

Pretty soon they began dating, flying between cities to see each other. During one of those trips, both knew they had found their true love.

“I had a little bit of turmoil in my life and I called Manal in Chicago,” Anthony said. “I said, ‘I love you and want to be with you and want to come out tomorrow.’ I flew out and stayed the weekend and it was then that I knew she was the one for me.”

Manal said that trip sealed it for her too.

“He called me and said he was coming to Chicago,” she said. “When I picked him up at the airport and I saw him, I knew I was going to marry him. It was in my gut.”

Soon after, Anthony popped the question while at a conference in New York City and the couple married in 2002, only three months after getting engaged.

Today, the couple shares two dental practices at 55 S. Main Street in Naperville, Naperville Dental Specialists and Innovative Orthodontic Centers. They have two boys and can be seen dining at Hugo’s Frog Bar, Jilly’s and Timpano’s and checking out books at Anderson’s.

“Manal is phenomenal,” Anthony effused. “She has the biggest heart. She is four foot eleven but can take the legs out from under you in a second.”

Manal feels the same about him.

“He genuinely cares about people,” she said. “He has the biggest heart in the world and that is what made me fall in love with him.”

Advice for couples:
Betty Jurgensen: “If the good outweighs the bad that is fine” 

George Jurgensen: “Make sure you like the same things.”

Gil Ducato: “Accept each other the way they are. Don’t expect each other to be perfect.”

Rosalie Ducato: “It isn’t always perfect, but make sure to always give each other a kiss good night—no matter if it has been a good or bad day.”

Manal Ibrahim LaVacca: “With any relationship in your life, you can’t ignore your gut. Your gut never throws you wrong. Whenever you have to make excuses or sweep things under the rug that is not good.”

Anthony LaVacca: “Have complete trust and loyalty to the person that you are with. If there is any hesitation or reservation, don’t get married.”