Tampa Couple With Nearly 100 Offspring Celebrates 75th Anniversary

A Florida couple will celebrate 75 years of marriage this month with many of their 94 descendants.

According to News Channel 8, 101-year-old Nate and 94-year-old Virginia Crawford will celebrate their anniversary on Sept. 16 in the Tampa Bay area with a private dinner for 60 people. The couple has five children, 25 grandchildren, 57 great-grandchildren and seven great-great-grandchildren.

“We have a large family and are so grateful for the foundation our family was built on,” Anitra Merricks, one of the couple’s granddaughters, told the news channel.

The longtime lovebirds said their secret to a lasting marriage is “love, trusting one another, and believing in God. Put God first and everything else will fall into place.”

Merricks said marriage inspires her and the whole family.

“When you see one, you see the other. Always together and never apart,” Merricks said. “We all admire their love for one another and appreciate the foundation on which they built our family (God, love, faith and family).”

The Crawfords have inspired many more. Hundreds on social media Monday praised the couple for their marital bond.

“Happy birthday to you both,” Suzanne Dodd wrote on Facebook. “Wishing you many more wonderful years of happiness together…thank you for being an inspiration to many to live by…enjoy your special day…”

“What an achievement!! You set the bar for the rest of us,” Jeff LeVasseur wrote on Facebook.

“Keep loving each other. God bless you. So cute,” Beulah Felder wrote on Facebook.