Couple still going strong after 73 years

If there is an unofficial record for Bloomfield senior couples, surely the Steins of Lakewood Drive must be considered.

This is because Alexander Steins, 101, and his wife, Cecilia, 91, have been married 73 years.

Born in 1922, Alex grew up in the Baltic Sea harbor of Liepaja, Latvia, and was raised by a grandmother and aunt. He said his father’s name was Andreas.

“My father lost both his legs in World War One and fingers on his hands,” Alex said. “He did nothing because both his legs were taken off. He was 42 when he died.”

“He never knew his mother,” Cecilia said. “She died in childbirth when he was two. This is very old history.”

During World War II, Latvia was Nazi-occupied until 1944 when the Soviets invaded. As a young man, Alex was an apprentice auto mechanic.

Cecilia was born in Sopron, Hungary. During WWII, her country sided with Germany, but in 1944, was occupied by the Soviets.

“I didn’t have a childhood because of the bombs.” she said. “It was a very, very bad time. I don’t know what it is being a kid. I was always afraid with the bombs. First, the Russian planes came with the bombs in the morning. Then the English. They came in the afternoon. And then the Americans at night. You had to sleep with your clothes on.

“For food, you’d stand the whole night for bread and get nothing,” she continued. “My mother cut my hair like a boy because the Russians would rape you. I wore my brother’s clothes. After WWII, the Russians came in and took everything. You were happy to get out of Hungary.”

She went to Germany with her parents and five brothers. Alex had already immigrated to Germany. Cecilia said there were times in her husband’s life, before they met, about which she knew nothing.

She was 14 when she arrived in Germany in 1946. She met Alex in 1950, in Karlsruhe, in the Black Forest, at the wedding of her girlfriend. She and Alex married after knowing each other for three months. They thought about an engagement period, but decided to marry and come to America.

“I had a little beard already,” Alex said playfully.

“The living was better here,” said Cecilia. “You couldn’t get anything in Germany. You couldn’t even buy a banana for the baby.”

They left for America with three sons; another son was born here.

“My friend,” Alex said, “who was working in Latvia, in glassworks, moved to Montclair. He was working in Scientific Glass.”

Scientific Glass and Instruments was located in Bloomfield and manufactured specialized laboratory glass for research. His friend’s name was Zigfried Simonson. Cecilia said Alex and “Ziggy” grew up together, but to immigrate to America they needed a sponsor. This was a Dr. McMillian, of Montclair.

“Ziggy couldn’t be our sponsor,” Cecilia said. “He wasn’t here for five years. The First Lutheran Church, in Montclair, paid for our travel. We came over on a Flying Tiger. That’s a flight you never forget. We came to America, Oct. 19, 1956. A beautiful day.”

“Today is another beautiful day,” Alex said.

Alex is Lutheran; Cecilia is Catholic.

“I first came to Montclair,” Alex said. “The old house is still there — 75 Gates Ave. Ziggy lived there. For about four months we stayed.”

They resided locally and moved to Bloomfield, in 1967, when their present home was built. Alex said he was offered employment at Scientific Glass on Nov. 2, 1956.
“I was asked if I wanted to work that day,” he said. “It was my birthday. I said yes.”

“We needed the money,” Cecilia said. “We were very happy. We didn’t want to be dependent on our friends. And with our four children, we did it.”

For five years, she worked in Two Guys, in Irvington, as a cashier, and then at Scientific Glass, in accounting. Alex started in the stockroom. A foreman asked if he spoke any English and if he knew numbers. He did.

“I was pointing thermometers,” Alex said. “That’s what thermometer people call it.”

He would put mercury into the thermometers and place the temperature scale on the glass. Periodically, a company would return a thermometer to check for accuracy.

“Sometimes a specialized type of thermometer will have more than an inch between degrees,” he said, showing this with thumb and forefinger. “Other thermometers you needed a magnifying glass to see.”

Nowadays, Alex spends much of his time at the computer. Cecilia likes time with her dog, Casey, speaking Hungarian and German with overseas friends and walking with Alex who “knows every corner in the woods.”

“He even cuts his own hair,” Cecilia said. “And he takes a shower by himself. That’s a blessing. But I don’t want him to go in when I’m not here.”
And without being asked, Alex stopped driving at 97.

“He didn’t want to drive anymore because if there was an accident, the police would point to him,” Cecilia said.

  bloomfield