Sixty years later, Tioga County couple says ‘I Do’ again

Tioga County residents, Joseph and Patricia Federowicz, celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on Nov. 28, and marked the special occasion by renewing their vows at St. Margaret Mary’s Church in Apalachin. Attending the gathering were their children and families, including spouses, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and other guests. 

Both natives of the Wilkes-Barre, Pa. area, the couple has lived in the southern tier since the late 1950’s, 49 years of which has been in Apalachin.

Joseph and Patricia, or Joe and Patti, were married on Thanksgiving Day in 1957, and chose the day because Patti’s parents were also married on Thanksgiving.

“It was a nice day to get married, and also to give thanks,” Patti said.

Patti commented that witnessing another couple recently renewing vows inspired them to do the same, and, for their ceremony, it was especially meaningful to have their family present.

Joe and Patti credit Joe’s dear friend, Leonard “Lenny” Sabalis, as having played a key role in introducing the couple. The story goes that Joe found a photo of Patti that accompanied a newspaper article about work she did with a youth committee in Wilkes-Barre, and without hesitation told Lenny, “That’s the girl I’m going to marry!”

Lenny replied, “You’re crazy,” Joe recalled, chuckling.     

The couple finally met when Patti, a junior in high school, worked at a Woolworth’s store, and coincidentally, so did Lenny’s sister. Lenny happened to stop by to chat with his sister at the store one day, and tagging along with him was Joe.

So the story continues that a meant-to-be love story started by a chance glance at a newspaper photo, and was sealed by an introduction at a Woolworth’s store.

Before they married, Joe, a U.S. Navy veteran during peacetime, went on active duty and also later served in the Navy reserves, while Patti completed a nursing degree and worked in the operating room at Wilkes-Barre’s Mercy Hospital.

For Joe, good jobs, he said, were few and far between. He recalled making 75 cents an hour at a shoe factory, and the better jobs, which paid a dollar an hour, were scarce.  

Positive chatter about jobs at IBM in Endicott, N.Y. sparked interest due to Joe’s Navy experience, so the couple picked up and relocated to the southern tier. A transfer to the Owego facility came soon after, and Patti, pregnant with their first child, took a tour of the new Owego site.

“I remember walking over wooden boards, it was really raw construction in some places,” Joe recalled, adding, “I started at $84 a week, which was big money back then.”

While Joe worked at IBM, Patti was a stay-at-home mother. The Federowicz family grew to six children, and, in an interesting pattern, too; boy, girl, boy, girl, boy, girl. With number six on the way, the couple moved from Endwell to a larger home in Apalachin.

At IBM, Joe pursued advancement opportunities and at one point took a leave of absence to attend Kings College in Wilkes-Barre. Later, he worked full-time and attended night school at Elmira College, where he finished a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Accounting, and which led to a position as a contract negotiator.

Patti decided to return to nursing after the children were grown, and worked 20 years at Binghamton General Hospital, where she was involved in the beginning of the New Horizons program and worked with individuals dealing with chemical dependency.

The couple was also active at St. Margaret Mary’s church. Joe expressed interest in what was at the time a new program with the Catholic Church; he was ordained as a permanent deacon, which has spanned more than three decades.

“I’ve never enjoyed anything more,” Joe commented, and particularly, he noted, is his current Chaplain role at Lourdes Hospice. Joe explained that when he visits patients, they seem to be at ease when he is in their presence and feel more comfortable discussing the end of life.  

Joe’s ministries have also included chaplaincy at the Elmira Psychiatric Center, along with work at Catholic Charities and Tioga Outreach programs.   

Patti has also worked as a volunteer for hospice, and the couple has teamed up throughout the years for marriage encounter, cursillo and charismatic renewal programs within the church.

The story now takes a quick turn back to Joe’s best friend, Father Lenny, who Joe explained was the inspiration behind him getting involved in ministering.

Father Lenny served as Chaplin (Captain) in the Vietnam War for the 5th Special Airborne Forces and 1st Special Forces (Green Beret). Always committed to saying mass for the people, Joe said that Lenny often risked his life traveling through mine fields. Whenever approached about the risk, Father Lenny would reply, “I know, and I trust the Lord.”

Sadly, a drunk driver killed Father Lenny, only 37, in August 1972 while riding his motorcycle in northeast Pennsylvania.

Lenny had not yet been ordained when Joe and Patti were married, so a piece of the story that would have put the icing on the cake, so-to-speak, would have been if Lenny was ordained in time to marry the couple. Nevertheless, Father Lenny’s inspiration lives on in the hearts of the Federowicz’s.  

And like all married couples, the Federowicz’s have experienced struggles and challenges. Now in their early 80s, Joe and Patti said that they still grow and learn every day, and are blessed to have a loving family; including children Joe, Judy, Gene, Kathy, Tim and Mary Ellen, and ten grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

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