Love endures
Meet Sammy Golomb. He defines the meaning of true love, despite the fact he is going to be 95 later this month.
Sammy graduated in 1946. His high school days were spent learning inside the walls of what is now known as Coplay Borough Hall, 98 S. Fourth St.
There was a classmate back then named Agnes. She was forever making googly eyes at Sammy, but he would not give her the time of day, he said.
After graduation, Sammy, an unattached, handsome bachelor, headed off to the Navy to do a four-year tour of duty.
Upon his return in the winter of 1950, Sammy once again crossed paths with Agnes at a New Year’s Eve party at St. Joe’s (St. Joseph’s Sick and Beneficial Society, on Newport Avenue) in Northampton. He invited her to a movie a few days later at the Roxy Theatre, also in Northampton.
When he returned Agnes home later that evening, he approached her about a second date. Agnes could not believe the man she once chased was now chasing her.
When he asked for her phone number, Sammy recalled she very sarcastically said, “It’s in the phone directory. Look it up.”
The rest is an endless love story defying the test of time.
They were married in May of 1950. Unable to secure a job to support his new wife, Sammy enlisted in the U.S. Marines. This time, his tour of duty lasted 22 years.
After retiring from the military, Sammy sought gainful employment with the contractor building the homes in the Echo Hills part of Whitehall Township, now home to the neighboring Whitehall Mall.
The endless love affair blessed them with three beautiful children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Their 67 years of marriage came to an abrupt halt in 2017. Agnes succumbed to a leg infection.
Sammy never forgot the woman who stood by his side through the good times and the bad times. They had a true bond of holy matrimony, Sammy said - something, to this day, he has never forgotten.
Today, he pays his respects to Agnes by visiting her grave site every day of the year. Rain or shine, Sammy can be found sitting on a tombstone bench every morning at the crack of dawn. There, he reminisces about the days gone by, the woman who never gave up chasing her high school sweetheart and his enduring love for her.