People: Harry and Minerva Hartzell celebrate their 75th wedding anniversary People: Harry and Minerva Hartzell celebrate their 75th wedding anniversary (October 12, 2005)

Just think: Harry and Minerva Hartzell were married September 23, 1930. When they celebrated their 75th anniversary on September 23, 2005, at The Sequoias retirement community in Portola Valley, Mr. Hartzell was 100. Mrs. Hartzell was only 99.

About 40 friends and family turned out to the party organized by The Sequoias Staff. Four generations of Harzells shared the festivities, including two great-granddaughters.

Harry and Minerva grew up in the small town of Boyertown in Pennsylvania-Dutch country, and attended the same high school, says their son, Dr. Harry Hartzell, a retired pediatrician at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation.

Inspired by a high school chemistry teacher, Harry attended Penn State University and earned a degree in chemical engineering.

Minerva, meanwhile, attended Bluffton University, a Mennonite school in Ohio, where she specialized in music, her lifetime love. She taught music in schools until they married.

The newly-weds lived in Virginia, where Mr. Hartzell was pursuing his lifelong career with the Hercules Powder Co. Hercules didn't just make gunpowder, Dr. Hartzell noted. It made other chemicals, including the raw material for rayon.

In 1938, the Hartzells went to England and lived near Manchester, where Mr. Hartzell managed a factory. Mrs. Hartzell and baby Harry evacuated before the United States entered World War II; Mr. Hartzell stayed until the bombing started after Dunkirk, Dr. Hartzell said.

During the war, the Hartzells stayed with Hercules at various locations in New Jersey and Delaware. After the war, they returned to England and lived in London for 18 years until 1970, when Mr. Hartzell retired, and they moved to The Sequoias.

London was wonderful for the small-town couple from rural Pennsylvania, Dr. Hartzell said. They plunged into the international art and music scene, traveled a lot, and Mr. Hartzell was president of the American Chamber of Commerce for a time.

"Dad became a painter and quite a good photographer," he said. "London really transformed their lives."

The Hartzells stayed active over their 35 years at The Sequoias.

Mr. Hartzell served on the San Mateo County Grand Jury, was active in the Palo Alto photography club, served as president of the Residents' Council, and grew roses. Mrs. Hartzell ran the music program with Mildred Crooks, wife of tenor Richard Crooks, well known around the world as the golden "Voice of Firestone." Together they arranged 150 concerts.

Mrs. Hartzell was certainly the star of the anniversary party. First, she sang "I'll Be Loving You Always," and "I Love You Truly." Then she ended the party with a rousing rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" -- all of it. There was hardly a dry eye in the house.

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