Tietz Center goes further for father

They say that love conquers all. When Eric Teperman and Susan V. Laney decided to get married, there was one problem. His father, Israel, was “in a home” and couldn’t travel.
Fortunately for the loving couple, he was a resident of the Margaret Tietz Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Jamaica.
“My father was feeling separated even though I visit him every day,” Teperman recalled. “We noticed they had a chapel and asked if we could have our wedding there - he got all excited about it and offered to do all sorts of things,” he marveled.
Eric and Susan met last June 3 and hit it off immediately. Though he was a Jackson Heights resident and she lived in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, they spoke daily and decided to marry, a second time for each.
“We wanted it very small - one step above an elopement,” Teperman said. “The people at Margaret Tietz went over, above and beyond.”
Instead of simply making available the first floor chapel at the residence, located at 164-11 Chapin Parkway in Jamaica, the staff, including Executive Director Gerald Hart, Director of Public Affairs Linda Spiegel and staffers including Isabelle Kellerman became wedding planners.
They provided flowers and a wedding cake as well as the necessary accoutrements, including champagne glasses. “We didn’t want anything alcoholic at the wedding; they provided a dozen bottles of sparkling cider,” Teperman said.
The wedding party was indeed small for the ceremony, on Wednesday, December 24.
In addition to the couple and the father of the groom, it was attended by his mother Ruth, children Arielle, 25 and Jeremy 19, Cousin Edna Rosen and two life-long friends Glen and Laurel Magrini from New Jersey.
Susan’s daughter Katherine, 28, who lives in England, could not attend.
The Rabbi was another old friend of the groom, Michael Shevack of Philadelphia. “He insisted he come up and marry us,” Teperman recalled.
“With the terrible weather we had and Christmas Eve traffic, it took him seven hours on the road, and after an hour-and-a-half, he had to go back,” the newlywed said.
“It was just a wonderful day, made even more wonderful by the Margaret Tietz people,” Teperman said. “There was so much joy.”