Slinger, Wi – In a cozy home just outside Slinger, Wisconsin, Don and Jean Cattani sit side by side at a wood table in a sunroom overlooking a forested area behind their house. The room has seen its share of children, grandchildren and good stories.
On Wednesday, May 7, 2025, the couple celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary—a milestone built not just on time, but trust, laughter, grit, and a whole lot of faith.
Jean smiled as she told the story of how their relationship began—at a church fair at Mother of Good Counsel in Milwaukee in 1953.
“My mom said, ‘Let’s go to the fair,’” said Jean. “I didn’t really want to go, but I did. And that’s where I ran into a boy I knew from school. He wanted to take me to a movie, and every day he’d pick me up from the American Bowling Congress where I worked.”
Jean confessed, her heart was drawn elsewhere—specifically to a quiet young man who hung around the fringes of their friend group. Don.
“I told my friend, ‘I don’t have romantic feelings for you, but your friend… is he Catholic?’” Jean said. “I told mom I really hoped he’d call, and mom didn’t believe he would, but he did. I asked God at Mass on Sunday if he was right for me and I lit a vigil light in petition.”
Don remembered that moment a little differently, with detail that surprised even Jean. “I saw her, and I knew. It was love at first sight. Plain and simple.”
Their first date wasn’t dinner or dancing—it was sanding a wooden boat in Don’s garage.
“I had this racing boat shell. No deck, nothing finished,” Don said. “And there she was—on our first date—picking up sandpaper to help me. That’s when I knew she was something special.”
“People laugh at that,” said Jean. “But I just saw a hardworking man with a dream, and I wanted to be part of that.”
They dated for a year. “Don played his guitar and we sang together,” said Jean. “We went to dinner and movies.”
Married young—Don was 20, Jean just 19. They rented a place on 61st in Villard. “It was a little upstairs flat and we were only in there about three four months,” said Don. “We were always paying rent and it’s silly, like opening a window and throwing the money out – you never get nothing back.”
At that time the City of Milwaukee advertised a new subdivision on 84th and Mill Road; it included a city lot and sewer. “They had three different small ranch homes you could choose from,” said Don. “I chose the middle one; it was only 930-square-feet, but it was a three-bedroom ranch with no garage.”
It was 1955 and they bought their first home for $12,990 on Milwaukee’s west side. The down payment was $990—money they didn’t have until Don sold his beloved car, an Oldsmobile 88.
“I’ve always loved cars,” Don said. “But I loved her more. That house meant a future for us. We bought used furniture, tightened our belts, and made it work. We thanked God every day.”
Don and Jean raised five children in that spirit of faith and determination.
Don worked a number of odd jobs in his youth and later spent 35 years at American Can Company before retiring at 53.
Over the years, they built and moved into several homes—each one touched by Don’s hands, from stonework to cabinetry, and each one filled with Jean’s quiet strength and a well-worn rosary nearby.
Their Germantown home, gifted in part by Jean’s mother, sat on a peaceful acre where the Walmart now stands. They lived there for nearly 30 years, caring for Jean’s mother in a converted garage apartment for two decades.
“She was a saint,” Jean said simply. “We wouldn’t have had it any other way.”
In 1988, they built their final home—the one they’re in now. Don designed it himself, drawing floorplans at work, cutting out tiny furniture to make sure everything would fit. It’s modest and warm, filled with family photos and the feeling that love really does live here.
They say their secret is simple: praise, love, trust, and thank God daily.
“Life was never perfect,” Jean said. “But we never gave up on each other. We always prayed the Rosary—our daily defender.”
Maybe that’s what makes Don and Jean’s story and so miraculous. It wasn’t grand gestures or glamorous vacations. It was sanding boats, selling cars, building homes with bare hands, and holding tight through every storm. It was finding love in work, in worship, and in one another—every day for seven decades.
“With God, all things are possible,” said Jean. “That’s how we got to 70 years.”
