Their dance has lasted 57 years

Anna Anglero went to a dance on a military base in her native Puerto Rico in 1949. Four months later, on March 4, 1950 she danced down the aisle with her marine husband James Dobbs.
Fast forward more than half a century, and the couple renewed their vows at a recent recommitment ceremony at Parker Jewish Institute.
“Every day has been a wonderful day,” Anna said of their 57 years of marriage. They have two children, Ana and Jim, two grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
James, who is originally from New Orleans, spent 30 years working for the New York Transit Authority while Anna formerly worked as an accounts clerk.
Last July, Anna moved to Parker Jewish Institute in New Hyde Park. The following August, James joined her there. Prior to that, they resided in Bayside.
On Wednesday, March 7, the couple celebrated their many happy years of marriage by renewing their vows at Parker Jewish Institute in front of family and friends.
Parker Jewish Institute social worker Rachel Sirkis said that the couple shares a room and that they are always together. She said that seeing them together makes “you want to have a loving marriage like they do.”
Nancy Lazaroff, a therapeutic recreation specialist at Parker Jewish, said, “They really have a deep love and commitment to one another. It’s beautiful to watch.”
The recommitment ceremony was led by Monsignor Raymond Chappetto, the pastor of Our Lady of the Snows Church in Floral Park, who said that the couple is “a wonderful example to us and the world of what marriage is all about.”
“I love being married to you because I love you so much,” James said in a poem that he read to Anna during the ceremony.
Their children also spoke during the celebration, thanking their parents for all the love that they had given them throughout the years and for the example they set.
“All I can say is, from the bottom of my heart, my sister and I could not have picked two better people to show us the world, to show us what the word love means, what marriage means and how two people can come together and stay with each other,” Jim Dobbs said.