by Ken Robinson

Michael and Gloria Colasurdo will have been married 70 years Oct. 6, 2015. There is a long story here. But the heart of it is about family, about staying the course, having a lot of friends and a sunny outlook on life.

"Mike" Colasurdo is 92. Gloria is 89. They have lived in the same house, a house they built near White Center on 16th S.W. for 65 years. Across the street, close enough to hit with a tossed olive, is the house where Mike was born.

They met at the old Security Market at Third and Virginia in Seattle on October 6, 1944. Gloria was 18, Mike was 21. Mike lived with his parents and Gloria lived on Beacon Hill.

The attraction between them was strong. "He came from White Center to Beacon Hill every night to see me," Gloria said.
She liked to dance. Mike was the old-fashioned type who "didn't play cards or anything."

After they married, they attended church together at Holy Family on Roxbury Street. The single ladies would comment about Mike's dashing good looks. She reminded them that she was married to him.

As a kid, Mike carried the White Center News along 16th S.W. He said he never came home with extras, making sure to hit every subscriber on his route. This devotion duty stayed with him throughout his life. He describes himself as a Jack of All Trades. He has worked as a crane operator at Bethlehem Steel, at Omar Schau's bakery in White Center, at Boeing for six months putting spars together for the first B-29 bomber. For that work he was paid .43 cents an hour. A friend told him about the job at Bethlehem Steel and he went there to work.

For many years, he owned and operated a Signal Gas station on Delridge and Cambridge Streets just north of Roxbury inside the Seattle City limits.

Still, the family roots are in White Center. Name the owner of a business in the old days and Mike and Gloria have stories about them. Mike recalls the time Mr. Fred Bunge, who owned a hardware store in the middle of 16th Avenue, drove his own car right through the front of the building. He remembers Coy's White Center and Highline Theaters, Olberg Drugs, Bill Brown's sporting goods store with the old ice chest out in front where fishermen displayed their catch. He knew the people at the roller rink. Al at Joe Jaffee's Shoes, Mr. Tip LaCamera who owned a bakery and lots of real estate in town. He knew the Kremen brothers at the 10-cent store, Ed Minnis, the one-armed operator of the IGA grocery store, who bet him he could tie his shoes faster than Mike. Ed won. He was a business neighbor of Elliott Couden, insurance man, and he recalled Phil Reibman who owned the White Center Department store and Al Rose at the furniture store nearby.

Along the way, they raised two kids--Nina (Sykes) and Dino. The family blossomed to 16 over time. Gloria said it became financially burdensome to keep up with the birthday and celebration gift so they stopped buying them. Instead, they took all 16 family members to Italy for the trip of a lifetime. Gloria saw her role in the family as that of a housewife and as in traditional Italian families, Mike was the breadwinner.

At age 61, Mike went to work for Auto Warehousing in Tacoma. The city had become a major shipping port for foreign automobiles. Mike's job was to check over acres of new cars for damage. He kept this role until he was 81 and his knees would no longer take the long days on his feet. He had surgery, then retired.

Their daughter, Nina Sykes, told us a bit about her parents: " My dad was a businessman in White Center for many years and a member of Holy Family Parish for all of his 92 years.  He attended Holy Family elementary school as did all but one of my siblings.  As a mechanic owning one of the last Signal Gas Stations in the Seattle area he helped many residents who couldn't make it from pay check to pay check.  I knew growing up that I had good parents but it wasn't until I was an adult that learned how good.  

Whenever I would see the mother of my childhood best friend she would ask after Mike and Gloria.  She always told me that she keeps my parents in her prayers.  Nice right.  Then during a visit after the loss of one of her children she told me a story about my dad.  She was an RN and she and her husband had six children.  Even with both parents working it was hard to make ends meet.  She said that one day she could't get but a dollar worth of gas.  She was embarrassed, gave my dad the dollar and drove away in a hurry.  It wasn't until the next morning coming home from work that she noticed she had a full tank of gas.  She went to my dad to tell him he made a mistake and he said he didn't think so she had paid him the dollar.  After that he filled her up and she paid what she could when she could.  Then she told me she loved all the tomatoes he slipped into her backseat.

A large family garden on the city lot next to their house my dad and his parents grew fruit and vegetables that were shared with friends and neighbors.  During the summer, customers would leave Mike's Station not only with air in their tires and gas in their tank but ripe tomatoes and crisp lettuce.  My mom cooked "extra" when preparing dinner and the extras ended up in the kitchen of our struggling neighbors.  One neighbor said her children never went hungry.

The Colasurdos are surrounded by family and have enjoyed big gatherings in their home, with a small garden in back.

The secret to a happy marriage, according to Mike, is to always have the last word: "Yes dear."