Nearly 8 decades -- Andersens are still soaring

[Key Guy]

From the Cleveland, Tennessee (USA) Banner

http://www.clevelandbanner.com/index.cfm?event=news.view&id=65C0F5C4-19B9-E2E2-67C2DA690DB19EE0

Quote:

One of few things in Herman and Eva Andersen's lives which has lasted longer than their marriage is their membership at the Miami Temple Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Herman, 98, and Eva, 97, grew up in the Miami Temple church, which is where they met when they were about 17 or 18, according to their daughter, Daryl Andersen Chesney.

They began dating in their early 20s and married 75 years ago on April 14, 1934, during Herman's freshman year of dental school at what is now Emory University in Atlanta.

Herman graduated in 1937, and it was then their marriage began to take flight ... literally.

Though his first love was dentistry, after graduation Herman soon began to fly. He joined the Civil Air Patrol before the war, and he and three other friends owned a plane, which they took turns flying.

To stay close to her husband, Eva got her own pilot's license before the war, and the two, for their own enjoyment, did stunt flying together, Chesney said.

Eva did much of the navigating when the two flew together and helped fly when Harold needed it.

Their hobby gave the Andersens a chance to meet several celebrities associated with aviation. The Andersens even became close with a few, most notably Jimmie Angel, the bush pilot who discovered Angel Falls in Venezula, and Eddie Rickenbacker, a World War II fighter ace.

Herman's career plan was to become a dentist; however, when he realized he was going to be drafted for World War II, he signed up with the Navy as a pilot, rather than go into the Army as a dentist.

During the war, Herman gained much of his flight experience by patrolling the coast of Florida searching for German submarines. He also taught numerous other pilots, though he was never involved in any combat.

He later flew a four-engine seaplane from San Francisco to Hawaii, New Guinea and the Philippines, among other places, Chesney said.

After the war, Herman was forced to make a decision about his career path: whether he wanted to become a commercial airline pilot or go back to dentistry. The choice was not an easy one, his son Howard Andersen said.

"He went into dentistry, but has often thought about what his career would have been like in the airlines," Howard said of his father. Herman would work as a dentist for the next 50 years.

Though Herman gave it up as a career, he continued to fly as a hobby and collected many different planes, one of which, the Howard, he and Eva named their son after.

Eva's career path took many more turns over the same number of years, though.

"My mother ... as a young girl, worked as a masseuse on Miami Beach," Chesney said. "When she married my dad, she worked in a dental auxiliary and worked with the Red Cross as a volunteer."

While Herman chose between two of his greatest loves for a career, much of the work Eva did was simply out of love.

"She was a member of the Miami Music Club for many years. She raised two children and helped raise many others," Chesney said.

Chesney and Howard described their mother as a "surrogate mom" for many kids, constantly helping at the schools they attended.

"When we thought our friends were coming over to our house to see us, they'd go in and hang out with our mom and see our mom," Howard said with a laugh.

"She was a real friend to our friends and an advisor," he said.

Howard said Eva stayed busy with those activities until Chesney and he graduated from high school, when she went to help their father with his dental practice. She worked as an assistant until Herman, at 75, closed his dental practice in 1986.

Herman's private dental clinic wasn't the only medical venture he was involved in.

"In the early '50s, he got involved with some of the other church members, fellow physicians and dentists, who decided to start a hospital in Miami," Howard said, "so they got a license to start a hospital, and they all volunteered there.

"Dad set up a dental clinic there, and he worked there certain days and donated all the money he made from that dental clinic to help support the beginning of that hospital. It is still a successful hospital ... in Hialeah, Fla.," Howard continued.

Herman was chairman of the board for the hospital for many years, and, because of his status as a founder of the hospital, the auditorium within the hospital was given the name "Andersen Auditorium" in honor of him, according to Chesney.

"Everyone in the family has worked at Hialeah Hospital at some time," she added.

Though Herman and Eva "retired" in their 70s, they have only recently completely given up doing what they love and helping others. For a number of years after Herman closed his dental practice, he devoted much of his time to helping children who were born with cleft palates, a surgically-treatable condition in which the roof of the mouth isn't completely joined together at birth. He was also very active in the research of the condition, Howard said.

"I think I can say this for both of them," Chesney said on her parents' hobbies. "Their three passions outside of the family are flying, fishing and yard work and gardening."

No matter the difference in the Andersen's careers or hobbies at any one time, they always came back to flying.

"They would get in their plane and fly to Havanna for breakfast," Chesney said. They frequently flew single-engine planes to the Caribbean, Howard added.

The Andersens flew regularly with each other throughout their marriage. While they shared some other hobbies, they both had a passion for flying. They would even get special permission to fly to Costa Rica to simply pick up some orchids, flowers they both enjoyed, Howard said.

While Herman and Eva are still a very active couple, at the urging of their two children, they moved to Cleveland four years ago. Though they are still members of the Miami Temple church, they now attend Bowman Hills Seventh-day Adventist Church.

The couple still lives independently, though both are in their late 90s. This is in no way saying their life is over, Howard made clear.

They are still the same two people who were wed 75 years ago, he said.

"They've got the same sense of humor, the same determination, the same drive," Harold added.

"Most people don't start to really appreciate the elderly until they start looking at it themselves," he continued. "I think they're an example of the rich heritage that every community has."

"We have friends who love to be around them just because of the stories," Chesney said. "My dad will talk about going on gator hunts, and the stories he can tell about the backwoods and the Everglades and the snakes," giving some examples of those stories.

Like most couples, Howard said his parents have had their quarrels. However, he added, when a couple has been married for as many years as they have, a couple of arguments are to be expected.

"When you go through the Depression, the war and the upheavals that many couples have dealt with over the years, I think it identifies many couples their age," Chesney said. She also believes the Lord has blessed her parents in a great way.

"Their spiritual life, I think, has kept them together," Howard said. "They're very ... committed."

"They've been a really great example for both of us and for our children," Chesney said. Herman and Eva have two children, four grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren for whom they constantly set an example.

Something else both Herman and Chesney agree has kept their parents' relationship strong is their perseverance.

Herman spent 20 years in the naval reserves, was passionate about helping the Hialeah Hospital grow, and "was always taking classes for something," Chesney said. The pressures of Herman's professional life meant he was away from home a lot, but in some ways, that only made his and Eva's relationship stronger.

Perhaps Eva herself put it best: "It's not about me. It's about us."

Every day in the Andersens' 75-year marriage may not have been perfect, but they have certainly managed to soar to heights few other couples have reached.

(photo online)