Waukesha couples celebrating 70+ years of marriage help raise money for Stars & Stripes Honor Flight



WAUKESHA -- Two Waukesha couples and veterans are celebrating more than 70 years of marriage!

If you count dating, the couples -- Chuck and Beverly Franzke (married for 72 years) and Gene and Inez Ciechanowski (married for 70 years) share a collective 150 years together.

"She's been my greatest pal all of my life. We are best friends. We hardly do anything separately except she mows the grass," Chuck Franzke said.

Chuck and Gene served in the military, and on Valentine's Day, Tuesday, February 14th, they shared their love of the Stars & Stripes Honor Flight program. Both have taken a Stars & Stripes Honor Flight trip.

“It was one of the best days of my life," Franzke said.

Today's Lifestyle Solutions, a Waukesha-based downsizing and de-cluttering estate sale and home staging company, hosted a "meet and greet" to raise money for the Honor Flight program.

The couples talked about their time in the service and how they've stayed together for so long.

"These couples are an absolute inspiration to all who know them. They have both been together for more than 70 years, and have both been impacted by Stars and Stripes Honor Flight.  We thought our customers would enjoy hearing their love stories while raising money for their favorite cause," said Susan Perry, founder & president of Today’s Lifestyle Solutions.

For every sale at Today's Lifestyle Solutions during the month of February, 10 percent of proceeds will benefit the Stars & Stripes Honor Flight program.

Stars and Stripes Honor Flight is the Milwaukee-area hub of the national Honor Flight Network. Their mission is to fly WWII veterans, Korean War veterans, and terminally ill veterans of any conflict on one day, all-expenses-paid trips to Washington, DC to experience a full day of honor and thanks for their service.  To date, SSHF has flown 4,818 local veterans on Honor Flights.



 

CLICK HERE to learn more about the Stars & Stripes Honor Flight program.