The 'three Fs' give Zelis' marriage a passing grade
After 50 glorious years of marriage, William J. and Doris C. Zeli say the secrets to a long-lasting love are the "three Fs."
"Family, faith and friends," says Doris Zeli. "That's what it takes."
And a lot of laughter and love, of course, says the Rostraver Township couple.
The couple was married Nov. 27, 1954, in St. Leonard Church, Monessen, by the Rev. Owen J. Kirby. They celebrated their milestone during Mass at St. Sebastian Roman Catholic Church in Belle Vernon followed by a family dinner at Valley Brook Country Club in McMurray.
They have many fond memories of the years gone past and are grateful for the life they have been blessed with.
Doris, now 73, was born and raised in Monessen, a daughter of the late Carrie and Julius Conti. She has one brother, Julius Conti Jr., a retired colonel from Melbourne, Fla.
"I grew up in a great neighborhood called Dutchtown," she recalled. Her father worked for years as a pharmacist at Thrift Drug Store in Monessen. She graduated in 1949 from Monessen High School, where she was a cheerleader.
She would later go on to attend Mt. Mercy College for two years before transferring to California State College and graduating from there in 1970 with a teaching degree.
William J. Zeli, 83, was born in Marianna, but grew up in Belle Vernon, a son of the late Laura and Vincent Zeli. He is the last surviving member of his family, as his four brothers are deceased.
He graduated from the former North Belle Vernon High School in 1939 and quickly joined the Army Air Corp, serving from 1941 to 1944 during World War II. He flew 35 missions over Nazi-occupied Europe.
Their lives crossed paths after William Zeli returned home from the war. It's a story the couple loves to retell and is one that is beloved by family members.
"We were at a weenie roast at my cousin Dennis Zucconis'," explained Doris. "After he introduced us, I asked Bill if he would hold my weenie holder so I could help out."
William held the wrought-iron hot dog holder the entire evening and before long, young love was blooming. They went on dates at the Old Park Casino in Monessen, at Sweeney's and frequently at the movies.
After their mothers met each other for the first time, they realized their parents came from the same province in Italy, about 60 miles north of Florence.
"We were destined to be together," Doris said. "Fourteen months later, we were married."
She was 22, he was 32, when they married.
Doris kept the weenie holder, as it was called on the box it originally came in, but decided several years ago to put it up for sale during a card club garage sale.
"Bill said 'no way,'" Doris said. "He said that is a family treasure."
She retired in 1993 as an elementary teacher in the Belle Vernon Area School District, working mostly in the Marion school. He retired in 1983 from Continental Can Corp. in West Mifflin.
They now are enjoying their retirement years. Last year, they made the tough decision to sell their family home and moved to the Cedar Hills Condos & Villas community in Rostraver.
"We absolutely love it here," she said.
They are also proud of their two children and their families. Their daughter, Laura M. and her husband Bob Reilly live in Upper St. Clair with their children, Jonathan, a junior at Penn State University, and Andrew, a junior at Upper St. Clair High School. Laura, who was named after her grandmother, followed in her dad's footsteps and is a pharmacist at St. Clair Hospital. Bob is a chief financial officer with McKesson Automation.
Their son Bill Jr. and wife Julie (Uhlman) live in Murrysville with their children Larissa, a junior, and Zachary, an eighth grader, both attending Plum High School. Bill, an engineer, is a partner in the firm MTR in Trafford. His wife also works at the firm.
Over the years the couple has enjoyed traveling, especially a 23-day bus trip around the country in 1998.
"We got to see everything in this beautiful country," Doris said. "It was quite amazing."
The couple also each has their own unique hobbies.
Years ago, William Zeli started collected and restoring old steamer trunks. These huge, treasure chest-look-alikes were used by immigrants to store all their possessions when coming to America.
He has restored more than 200 of the steamer trunks over the years, and all of them date back to pre-1900.
Each of the trunks is unique, as he kept something of the original trunk when restoring them.
"The oldest trunk he has found was dated 1837," Doris said. He has bought them from antique stores and yard sales.
While her husband is known by in the Mon Valley for restoring steamer trunks, Doris had a passion of her own for many years.
But first, a quick family story must be told.
Her father graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 1913, and opened up the Conti Drug Company in Monessen. At the start of World War I, her father wanted to be a fighter pilot. He made a deal with two friends that he would sell his pharmacy to them, on the condition that if he returned from the war, they would sell it back to him.
"Well, he returned, but his buddies didn't want to sell it to him because they were in the process of making it the first drug store chain in the eastern U.S.," Doris explained. The store eventually became the Thrift Drug Co., and her father worked there as a pharmacist until he retired.
But Doris wanted to preserve some of the past. She started a quest 30 years ago to find original glass bottles from her father's drug store that had the Conti Drug Store label. She had saved one, but hoped to find more.
Her friends and father knew of her desire to find more of the bottles to preserve her family's heritage.
One day in 1995, she got a call from a friend, Lucille Dubrovich, who quickly told her to sit down.
Dubrovich had met bottle collector Blaine Doyle of Belle Vernon who had three of the Conti glass bottles.
"He had found the three bottles in a dump in Monessen," Doris said.
The bottles are now proudly displayed in their living room as a reminder of her family history.
The Zelis hope someday that their grandchildren and generations down the line will carry on the stories of the weenie roast, the steamer trunks and the Conti bottles.
But most of all, that they will find true love as William and Doris did.
