On Sept. 17, 1938, Carl and Josephine Carulli said “I do.”
This month, alongside family and a few friends, the pair celebrated 75 years of marriage. Born on the Eastside (Josephine in Bellevue, Carl in Renton), the couple first met as children. Their parents had worked together at a silk factory in Italy before coming to America, and upon settling in the Georgetown neighborhood in Seattle, spent many weekends together at Italian picnics.
Although Josephine and Carl lost touch in their teens, they reconnected in their 20s when Carl’s brother asked him to accompany him on an outing. His brother was taking Josephine’s sister to the new theatre in town – the Paramount – and asked Carl to go with Josephine.
In the weeks that followed, Carl found himself a bit smitten – taking the long route home from classes at the University of Washington to stop by Josephine’s apartment in downtown Seattle.
“I started getting the Heebie-jeebies, ya know?” Carl said. “So that’s how it started.”
The pair married at Seattle’s St. James Cathedral a year later, and built a home in Georgetown, where they raised two daughters, Janet [Stimach] and Linda. The house, which cost $3,500 to build, is where the pair lived until 2005. The 96-year-olds recently moved to the Ansara Family Home in Bellevue.
In addition to attending the University of Washington, Carl spent time as a firefighter and streetcar driver – before buying and operating the original Red Robin tavern in Seattle. He says the purchase came about because his father used to own a tavern in Georgetown and it “just made sense.”
Being one of only two or so bars in the state to have a piano, Carl says the tavern proved to be a big success with the university students.
“We always had a good crowd at the Red Robin tavern.”
Josephine stayed home with Janet and her younger sister, Linda, until Janet was 13, then worked at the King County Assessors Office, until she retired in 1976. She also spent much of her time fostering one of the most beautiful and plentiful gardens in the city (she and her garden were featured in the Seattle Times in 1991).
Marriage is hard. And like most couples, Carl and Josephine have had their own trials and tribulations, the most recent of which being Josephine’s Dementia diagnosis.
“The roles have changed,” Linda said. “I think my mom took care of dad, in the younger years – and now my dad takes care of my mother.”
Despite the hardships, their adoration of each other seems to remain the same. Known as the “love birds” at their previous nursing home – something their daughters attribute to the pair’s act of sitting together and holding hands all afternoon – the Carullis seem to exemplify the meaning of a lasting relationship.
“From my point of view, it’s very simple,” Carl says. “There wasn’t a day that I didn’t tell her that I loved her.”
