Observer’s Valentine Couple, Dave and Joanne Thayer
While most couples find love within their own country, Dave and Joanne Thayer found theirs in Japan. Married since August 12, 1967, the pair celebrated 58 years of love, happiness and mutual respect this past year and are still going strong.
Dave, a mid-western kid with wanderlust was born in Baraboo, Wisconsin, the one-time headquarters of Ringling Brothers Circus since 1884. His business/economics studies at Wisconsin State-Whitewater were interrupted two and a half years in by the draft. Because he had learned to type somewhere along the way, the Army assigned him to Philadelphia as a clerk typist. During his two-year stint, Dave traveled frequently on military transports, visiting eight European countries during his service. He had a top security clearance due to documents he had to type. Once he accepted a courier assignment that included transporting two grenades that were to be detonated rather than let the document fall into the wrong hands!
Upon leaving the Army and finishing college, Dave taught high school history for three years. He then applied to the Department of Defense (DOD)program to teach at military bases abroad, listing Europe as his first choice and Japan as his second.
Meanwhile, Joanne DeMita, four years younger than Dave, grew up in Arlington, Massachusetts, the middle child in a large Italian family of two boys and three girls. Her first cousin, Ciriaco De Mita, was a prominent Italian politician who, in addition to holding several ministerial positions over the decades, was also the Prime Minister of Italy for a time. Joanne attended Riviera College in New Hampshire, studying to become a teacher. Upon graduation she took a job teaching elementary school in Boston for two years. Her college roommate suggested they apply to the DOD program, convinced that the two of them would end up in Europe (their first choice) and have a great time together. When Joanne got assigned Japan, she was hesitant, but her roommate, who had been assigned Turkey, convinced her that it would be fun, so off she went.
Dave and Joanne lived on the Camp Zama base, which was the Japanese military headquarters during WWII. Dave spent two years teaching English and history on the base while Joanne spent a year teaching elementary school at the Camp Sagamihari base.
While they had seen each other at Zama, it wasn’t until a picnic for the new teachers at the end of September 1965 that sparks flew. They started dating the next day and were engaged by January! Joanne reported that they had “chemistry” from day one and they “just knew” they were meant to be together. They spent the year traveling all over Japan in their free time, visiting all four of the major islands. In September 1966 they returned home to the United States.
They were married on August 12, 1967, at the Copley Plaza in Boston. Joanne wore a gown made in Japan which she bought for $60.
Leaving teaching, Dave got a job with Tenneco, an auto parts manufacturer in Harrisburg, Virginia while Joanne taught first grade. After a couple of years Dave was transferred to Tenneco’s packaging division in Lancaster, Pennsylvania where Joanne taught 4th grade.
In 1971 Dave accepted a supervisory position at Connecticut General Insurance Company (now Cigna) where he remained for 30 years, traveling 23 of them to set up field offices, until his retirement. Joanne taught 2nd grade in Somers, and they lived in Enfield.
On February 14, 1973, Joanne advised her principal that she and Dave were seeking to adopt a child, and assured him that the process could take several years. Later that day, Dave called Joanne and told her they were getting a little boy, who they named David, straight from the hospital. Joanne resigned her teaching position that day to be home with their newborn.
In 1974, while approved for a second adoption, Joanne got pregnant and their daughter Rebecca was born March 25, 1975.
When the kids were older, Joanne returned to teaching, first at St. Bernard’s and then later at Parkman in Enfield. Dave retired in 2001, Joanne in 2006. They moved to Suffield in 2005 so Dave, an avid racket sportsman, could be closer to tennis and paddle ball courts.
The Thayers have three grandchildren. Son David has Michael, 27, while Rebecca and her husband Todd Zanzac have Josh, 19, who plays tennis for Nichols College, and Joseph, 16, who is at Suffield High School.
When asked for the secret of their longevity, Joanne replied that they have always looked out for each other’s welfare. “We come first for each other. We have a lot of the same interests, but also separate interests, and our faith has kept our union strong.”