The Lovely Lempesis
It’s a love story over 50 years in the making. Billy and Lisa Lempesis knew each other in high school and had met as children through their parents. Lisa recalled, “When we were young, I was actually friendlier with Billy’s cousin because he was younger than Billy.”
Lisa continued, “When Billy was at 25the College of Charleston, I was in high school. I came to a fraternity party with a date that ended up having too much to drink. I was crying because I just wanted to go home. I spotted Billy across the parking lot and asked him for help.”
Lisa picked up the story from here. “He told me never to be anywhere unless you can get yourself home. Always have gas money and a plan. I took that advice to heart and never put myself in a similar situation again, but I never got to thank him and I always wished that I had.”
Lisa and Billy hadn’t seen each other in 50 years when they both attended a high school reunion for multiple years of graduating classes in 2020. Upon seeing Billy, Lisa reintroduced herself and thanked him for his help at that fraternity party years ago. Lisa and Billy had both recently gotten divorced and Lisa was set to catch the last flight out of Charleston back to Michigan after the reunion, before COVID shut everything down. “Billy called every night after that. He sent me chocolate during COVID because you couldn’t buy chocolate or other nonessentials in Michigan at that time. My mother and my sister still lived here and I helped with them and Billy helped me with that.”
Billy and Lisa Lempesis were married in May 2023. They share a blended family of three children and six grandchildren. Though they might have taken the long way around, they finally ended up with the right person. Seems like it was well worth the wait.
The Heartfelt Harringtons
Patrick and Barbara “Barby” Harrington celebrate their 58th wedding anniversary on Feb. 11. While recalling how they fell in love, Barby sounded as though she had only recently met Patrick, with a fondness and sweetness in her voice that comes through in every single syllable.
“Patrick and I met in a local dive in Florida over the Fourth of July. He was there training with the USA Wrestling team trying out for the Olympics,” she recounted. Barby joked, “That’s how South Carolina and Michigan get together. They meet in Fort Lauderdale.”
Patrick was a teacher and wrestling coach in Michigan and stopped for four days in Charleston to see Barby on his way home that August. Barby went to Michigan that November to visit over Thanksgiving break when Patrick proposed to her for the first time. Barby’s initial answer was “maybe.” She explained, “I’d only just met him!”
Patrick returned to South Carolina for Christmas break and again asked Barby to marry him, this time on New Year’s Eve. Barby recalled, “We were dancing. I told him, ‘I think I could do this forever.’ He said, ‘Does that mean what I think it means?’ And I said, ‘Yes!’ I fell in love with him while he was dancing and I said yes to him while we were dancing. It was meant to be.”
Patrick and Barby were married on Feb. 11, 1967, in Charleston on a balmy 70-degree day. They set out to live in Michigan after their wedding and Barby remembered, “As we drove into Ohio it started to snow and I said, ‘Ooh snow!’ By the springtime I said, ‘Where are the azaleas?’”
Barby’s mother was still living on the Isle of Palms at that time and Barby returned for family reunions throughout the ’70s and ’80s. Patrick had completed a 37-year teaching and coaching career in Michigan when the Harringtons moved to the Isle of Palms full-time. Patrick and Barby have a son in Virginia and a daughter and two grandsons living in Charleston. “We have a close family dynamic, no matter where we are,” said Barby.
“I moved to Sullivan’s Island when I was 11 and back to the Isle of Palms in 2003 and I’m not going anywhere else,” stated Barby. Here’s to happily ever after for the Harringtons and happy anniversary!
The Sweet Streetmans
Longtime island residents Deborah and Rusty Streetman will celebrate their 57th wedding anniversary on May 20. When asked the secret to a decades-long marriage, Deborah was quick to reply, “Rusty signed a contract — ’til death do us part.’ He knows what it would take to get out of it.”
Sweet laughter from Rusty and Deborah followed her remark. A shared sense of humor is top on the Streetmans’ list of tips for a long-lasting marriage. “It’s a little bit of luck and a little bit of humor and a lot of just showing up for each other every day. We dated when we were young and we dated when our girls were little and we continue to date every single day, even now,” explained Deborah.
Two daughters, a grandson and one great-grandson later, the Streetmans continue to laugh and love and interrupt and complete each other’s sentences. Speaking with Rusty and Deborah was like stepping back in time while simultaneously experiencing an energy typically associated with a younger generation.
Both hailing from small towns in upstate South Carolina, Rusty and Deborah met in the mid-1960s. Though they had mutual acquaintances and their parents knew each other, Rusty and Deborah didn’t meet until Deborah was hired to demonstrate how to use the newly developed self-service gas pump. Deborah recalled, “I was working for my aunt, handing out coupons to her restaurant, Quick Burger, at a local filling station, showing potential customers how to pump their own gas, a novel concept at the time. Rusty showed up for a coupon and a lesson in how to use the pump. I taught him how to pump gas!”
Rusty continued, “We both later attended a dance, not together, but we were both there. We ended up dancing together and…” Deborah joined in here and they both completed Rusty’s sentence, “the rest is history.” Cheers to many more years to come, Rusty and Deborah!
By Laura Fogarty
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