Watertown Couple Celebrating 75 Years of Marriage After Unlikely Meeting

Watertown’s Edward and Madeline “Ann” Newbould met in a very unusual way during World War II, and on Jan. 22, 2020 they will celebrate the 75th anniversary of their wedding. Their family provided the following piece:

Celebrating their 75th wedding anniversary on January 22, 2020, Edward and Madeline “Ann” Newbould of Watertown were seemingly brought together by fate, their love story beginning with a destined box of cookies.

Madeline, who worked at a Watertown cookie shop during World War II, snuck her name and address into a box of cookies, hoping to gain a pen pal. Edward, a young man from New York City serving in the Coast Guard in 1944, received the box of cookies with Madeline’s address, and intrigued, wrote her a letter.

The girl from Watertown and the sailor from New York exchanged letters, and when Edward’s ship came to port in Cape Cod, he asked Madeline if he could take her to the movies. Though this was their very first time meeting, when the movie ended, Edward asked Madeline to marry him. Amazingly, she said yes! Edward had to immediately resume his duties with the Coast Guard, but six weeks after their first date, he returned to Watertown to marry his love on January 22, 1945.

Edward and Madeline went on to have five children, 17 grandchildren, 33 great-grandchildren, two angel great-grandchildren, and four great-great grandchildren. At 95 and 94 years old, respectively, Edward and Madeline still live in the same Watertown home where they raised their family, and their love story continues.