“I wondered whether I would ever see him again,” Eleanor Gittens remembered thinking as her new husband left for war just days after their 1942 wedding. Eight decades later, that question has its answer—and two world records to prove it.
Eleanor, now 107, and Lyle Gittens, 108, have officially become both the longest-married and oldest married couple on Earth. With 83 years of marriage and a combined age of 216 years and 132 days, the Miami residents claimed both titles after certification by longevity research group LongeviQuest.
Their secret to eight decades together proves disarmingly simple. “We love each other,” Eleanor said. Her husband’s formula matched perfectly: “I love my wife.”
But that love faced its first test almost immediately. The couple wed on June 4, 1942, after Lyle secured just a three-day pass from Fort Benning, Georgia. He traveled in a segregated rail car to Bradenton, Florida, meeting Eleanor’s family for the first time at their wedding. Within days, he deployed to Italy with the U.S. Army’s 92nd Infantry Division.
Pregnant and alone, Eleanor moved to New York City to meet Lyle’s relatives while working payroll at a company producing aircraft parts. Their only connection came through letters so heavily censored that more of Lyle’s words were missing than visible, Eleanor recalls.
Their son, Lyle Rogers, arrived while his father fought overseas. When the war ended and the couple finally established their first real home together in New York, daughters Angela and Ignae followed.
The romance that would break records began in 1941 at Clark Atlanta University. Eleanor first noticed Lyle during a basketball game against Morehouse College. She can’t recall the score—only that it was the first time she saw the man who would later enter Clark Atlanta’s Men’s Basketball Hall of Fame.
Building careers in post-war America proved challenging, but both passed the New York civil service exam and secured government positions training others to find employment. Through the demanding 1950s and 60s, they created a daily ritual that continues today: sharing a drink—then martinis, now a Modelo at lunch—while recounting their workplace victories.
Eleanor earned a doctorate in Urban Education from Fordham University at age 69, refusing to let retirement slow her down. The couple traveled extensively with the Clark Atlanta University Alumni Association and the International Congress for Caribbean Archaeology, particularly to their beloved Guadeloupe.
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LongeviQuest’s Global Validation Commission verified their record status using the couple’s 1942 marriage certificate, U.S. census entries, and archival material spanning multiple decades. The Gittens assumed both titles after the previous record holders died.
Today they live in downtown Miami near daughter Angela, enjoying views of the cruise terminal and city skyline. Yet at 108, Lyle maintains his New York pride. “If you’re not living in New York City, you’re camping,” he says, smartphone always within reach because “Even at my age, you can still gain knowledge.”
The couple who wondered if war would separate them forever has instead given the world a different answer—one measured in 83 years, two world records, and a love that survived when so many others didn’t.
