Durango residents George and Mary Thompson celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary March 9, after they were married in 1968 by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Patrick Stauter at St. Columba Catholic Church.
George and Mary were born and raised in Durango and left for 17 years to pursue school and careers. After they married, the couple lived in Alaska while George served in the U.S. Army 808th Engineer Battalion. George left the Army to work for the New York City-based Turner Construction Co., and he and Mary spent time living in Ohio and Denver.
In 1981, they returned to Durango and raised three children: Trish Zuber and Gabe Thompson, who live in Durango, and Jared Thompson who lives in Huntsville, Alabama. They now have eight grandchildren.
George started his own company, Kennebec Construction, in Durango and still works there full time at 72 years old. Mary worked as a nurse for Mercy Medical Center and was a local office and school nurse before she retired to care for her mother.
Mary Thompson cut out and saved the original wedding announcement printed in The Durango Herald on Sunday, March 10, 1968 – the day after they were married – and she managed to find it 50 years later in time for their anniversary.
fstone@durangoherald.com
