HOBART (NBC 26) — A Hobart couple married for 76 years is named the longest-married couple in Wisconsin by the Wisconsin Family Council. NBC 26 met the Prossers and asked what the secret is to a long-lasting marriage.
- See the home Rosemary and Ted Prosser have lived in since the 1970s
- The Wisconsin Family Council is a non-profit organization based in Madison that attempts to promote Christian values in the state
- For the council's Marriage Hall of Fame, people married for longer than 60 years are asked to apply and self-identify to compete for the longest-married couple spot
- Hear the Prosser's secrets to a long marriage below
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story.)
A Hobart couple is now in the Wisconsin Family Council marriage hall of fame with a pretty big honor for this year. I'm your Hobart neighborhood reporter, Pari Apostolakos, here at the home of the longest married couple in the state, with what they say has helped their marriage last so long.
Watch Pari Apostolakos' full broadcast story below:
"'What an honor it is for Wisconsin Family Council to send you this Wisconsin Marriage Hall of Fame certificate,' Rosemary Prosser read from a letter she and her husband received Monday morning.
"I don't know where we're going to put another picture," she said of the framed certificate her husband Ted pulled out of the package at their kitchen table.
Rosemary and Ted Prosser went to religious education classes together as teens.
"I told him that I would go to the military ball with him," Rosemary said. "But he didn't call me or anything, 'cause he don't dance."
"Never did learn," Ted said.
"Well, we danced at our anniversaries," Rosemary admitted.
The prossers have had 76 anniversaries after marrying in October 1948 at the Pamperin Park Pavilion.
"I remember we went on honeymoon and got as far as Marinette, maybe," Rosemary said. "He wanted to come home and work on the house."
Ted worked as a contractor most of his life and he built the house they still live in.
They also built a large family, including 10 children, two of whom died as babies. They've since had scores of grandkids, great-grandkids, and even a great-great-granddaughter.
"Well, we're both Catholic so it just happened that we kept getting babies," Rosemary said with a laugh.
"Time went fast," Ted said.
Now, after one of their sons sent in an application on their behalf, the Prossers were named the longest-married couple in the state by the Wisconsin Family Council.
"We really work to strengthen, preserve and promote marriage, family life and religious freedom in the badger state," Wisconsin Family Council President Emeritus Julaine Appling said. Appling told me over Zoom Monday the Prossers are the longest-married couple they've seen since they started taking applications for the Marriage Hall of Fame in 2021.
"Marriage for a lifetime can be an incredible blessing, an incredible adventure," Appling said.
"Do you have any thoughts on what the most important thing is for a marriage?" I asked Ted and Rosemary at their kitchen table.
"Trust," Ted said. "Makes life easier."
For Rosemary, she says keeping busy can keep a marriage strong.
"We never had time to fight," she said.
According to the Wisconsin Family Council, 17 other couples join the Prossers in the Marriage Hall of Fame this year.
