Bees Blog

Escorting the bride to her waiting groom was a spry Maj. Robert Stuart Bean 90, who served in WWII and Korea

Fifty-year-olds Betty Riess and Jerry Reynolds exchanged their wedding vows Wednesday morning in an intimate ceremony attended by about 50 family and friends — and the senior residents and staff of Somerford House.
It was the first wedding held at the assisted living facility at 501 S. Harmony Road in Ogletown, which was decorated for the holidays with Christmas trees and poinsettias, garlands and sequined nutcrackers.
“I like Christmas weddings,” the facility’s executive director, Nathan Millman, said. “That’s what we want. We want everyone to be normal and advance in age with dignity and have all the experiences they should have.”
Riess, who works at a patent firm in Wilmington, volunteers with her daughter at Somerford House. She met Reynolds, a heating and air-conditioning technician, a year ago Wednesday on her daughter Brianna’s class trip to another nursing home and Christiana Mall.
Reynolds’ daughter, Lindsey, was in the same class and both adults had volunteered as class chaperones that day.
“He offered to carpool, and I hopped in a strange man’s car,” she said with a laugh.
At her daughter’s prodding, the couple became engaged in July and planned their wedding day to coincide with the one-year anniversary of their meeting.
Because both are divorced and have small immediate families, the staff at Somerford House stepped in and volunteered their facility for the nuptials so its residents could participate in “Betty the bride’s” wedding.
As Riess descended the stairs in her white gown with her cascading hair topped with a tiara, 90-year-old resident and retired U.S. Air Force Maj. Robert Stuart Bean took her arm and walked her down the aisle to her groom.
The Rev. Karla Fleshman, a social worker and bereavement counselor with Heartland Hospice, officiated.
She said she helped Riess through the grieving process following the July death of her sister, Daisy Sullivan, and volunteered her services for the happier occasion.
“They are a neat couple, and they really care about bringing together a blended family,” Fleshman said.
(Page 2 of 2)
Somerford’s activity director, Terri Doddy, a former wedding planner, organized the event, which was pulled together in three weeks.
There was a three-tiered navy-and-white polka dot cake, emblazoned with the couple’s monogram and topped with a bride and groom on a motorcycle, silver trays of cookies and punch.
The families supplied the food.
The groom’s uncle, Bill Charles Thompson, was the intended best man, but was buried Monday, Reynolds said.
So Scott Welch stepped in and did the honors.
Somerford’s marketing director, Lisa Romeo, served as the maid of honor, and her 13-year-old daughter, Alexis, was a bridesmaid, along with her friend and the bride and groom’s daughters, both 12.
Reynolds’ 6-year-old son, John Jacob, served as a very shy ring bearer.
Riess also has two older sons, 21-year-old Brevin Sullivan and Rocky Lones, 24, while Reynolds has a 21-year-old son, Martin Leroy Reynolds, to complete the newly blended family, which has plans of living together in Newark.
Following the nearly half-hour service, the couple enjoyed their first dance together as man and wife, dancing cheek-to-cheek to Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight” prior to the guests retiring for refreshments.
“I think it was a very nice wedding,” 71-year-old resident Mary Ann Marshall said afterward. “It’s a good time of year for it.”
Fleetie Baker, who would not reveal her age but said she was “old enough to vote,” piped in that it was nice to see both families, gushing, “Oh, it was a lovely wedding!”
Somerford’s activity director, Terri Doddy, a former wedding planner, organized the event, which was pulled together in three weeks.
There was a three-tiered navy-and-white polka dot cake, emblazoned with the couple’s monogram and topped with a bride and groom on a motorcycle, silver trays of cookies and punch.
The families supplied the food.
The groom’s uncle, Bill Charles Thompson, was the intended best man, but was buried Monday, Reynolds said.
So Scott Welch stepped in and did the honors.
Somerford’s marketing director, Lisa Romeo, served as the maid of honor, and her 13-year-old daughter, Alexis, was a bridesmaid, along with her friend and the bride and groom’s daughters, both 12.
Reynolds’ 6-year-old son, John Jacob, served as a very shy ring bearer.
Riess also has two older sons, 21-year-old Brevin Sullivan and Rocky Lones, 24, while Reynolds has a 21-year-old son, Martin Leroy Reynolds, to complete the newly blended family, which has plans of living together in Newark.
Following the nearly half-hour service, the couple enjoyed their first dance together as man and wife, dancing cheek-to-cheek to Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight” prior to the guests retiring for refreshments.
“I think it was a very nice wedding,” 71-year-old resident Mary Ann Marshall said afterward. “It’s a good time of year for it.”
Fleetie Baker, who would not reveal her age but said she was “old enough to vote,” piped in that it was nice to see both families, gushing, “Oh, it was a lovely wedding!”