This love waited 29 years
By Tim Gallagher Journal staff writer | Posted: Saturday, December 01, 2007
MAPLETON, Iowa -- Everyone deserves a happily ever after.
Few more than Fred Pilecki and Claudia Sell who marry today 29 years after their divorce.
They've battled booze, disease, death and depression. Their wedding today at St. John's United Methodist Church, they say, is a testimony to the transforming power of faith.
Here's a snapshot of what they've endured:
* In 1970, Fred, then 21, shot himself in the chest during an alcohol-fueled bout with depression.
* Fred and Claudia met at a bar in Michigan in April 1975. They wed two months later. He then told his wife he shot himself in the chest once. (She said a detail like that would have been nice to know BEFORE they married.) The drinking escalated, eventually getting to where firefighter Fred battled a blaze drunk.
* Claudia separated from Fred in 1978, fearing for her safety and the safety of their two young children, Angela, 2, and Scott, 1. She retained custody of the children after they divorced in June 1978.
* Fred kept drinking and lost his job later that year. He resigned from the fire department in Highland Park, Mich., while on a binge visiting friends in South Sioux City. "I had to resign my fire department job in order to draw out my pension and pay restitution," he said.
He was in and out of jail several times for writing bad checks.
"I was out of money and still thirsty," he said.
* Claudia, a nurse, married Kevin McEntee in Michigan in 1981. They had one child, Carrie. The couple divorced in 1984.
* Fred moved to Sioux City in 1980, began driving cab and met Pam Timmerman. They drank together and lived together until she threatened to throw him out.
"She insisted I go to recovery," he said. He did and became sober Nov. 9, 1980. They wed in 1982.
"I'd been through a lot of pain and was reintroduced to the loving God I had known as a kid," he said. "I surprised myself staying sober."
Pam also got sober in the early 1980s. The couple attended the Church of All Nations in Sioux City and Fred found work as a painter in the maintenance department at Goodwill Industries. He earned a degree at Briar Cliff College and worked his way up to vice president at Goodwill, his place of employment until 1998.
* Fred and Claudia's son, Scott, then 25, disappeared from his Michigan home in 2002. His remains were found a year later. There were no signs of foul play, Fred said. They buried their son and still miss him terribly.
* In 2003, Fred was ordained. For the past 5 1/2 years he has served as pastor for the United Methodist Church of Mapleton and nearby Ticonic.
* In January 2007, Pam died of pneumonia. Four bouts of cancer, Fred said, weakened her immune system.
Fred buried his wife, grieved, traveled to the Holy Land and immersed himself in his ministry. Something, someone was missing.
"I was terribly lonely on Sundays, coming home to an empty house following the service," he said.
Fred reached out to his daughter, Angie, on April 15, calling to ask if he could drive to Sioux City and visit her and her five children. One catch: Angie was hosting her mother for Mom's birthday.
"Angie assured me it would be OK, so I headed to Sioux City with the intention of stopping for a small gift for Claudia," he said.
Fred forgot to pick up a present. He improvised at the party and scribbled an "IOU" for dinner at her favorite restaurant. She didn't have to go with him. He'd pay for her and a friend to have dinner anywhere.
"Dad," Angie told him later, "Mom sounded like she was really looking forward to going with you."
A couple of weeks later they dined at Applebee's and discovered both were vastly different from 1975. Fred surprised Claudia with a good-night kiss.
"Our lives had been transformed by God," Fred said. "I'm not sure if we would have called that evening a date, but dates began to follow."
Claudia moved from Sioux City to an apartment in Mapleton in June. One month later they told the congregation at St. John's they would marry this winter.
Claudia will wear a burgundy and black dress today; Fred's suit is dark, conservative.
There are other differences between now and then. He's now 58; she's 52. They haven't lived together before today. They remain sober. A minister will marry them today, not a judge as they had in 1975. The entire congregation has been invited to the wedding celebration and a reception that follows at the church.
Claudia will be the one wearing a new ring. It is engraved, "True Love Waits."
Waited 29 years.
Following a honeymoon trip to Israel, the couple will come home to Mapleton.
And pray they'll live happily ever after.
Few more than Fred Pilecki and Claudia Sell who marry today 29 years after their divorce.
They've battled booze, disease, death and depression. Their wedding today at St. John's United Methodist Church, they say, is a testimony to the transforming power of faith.
Here's a snapshot of what they've endured:
* In 1970, Fred, then 21, shot himself in the chest during an alcohol-fueled bout with depression.
* Fred and Claudia met at a bar in Michigan in April 1975. They wed two months later. He then told his wife he shot himself in the chest once. (She said a detail like that would have been nice to know BEFORE they married.) The drinking escalated, eventually getting to where firefighter Fred battled a blaze drunk.
* Claudia separated from Fred in 1978, fearing for her safety and the safety of their two young children, Angela, 2, and Scott, 1. She retained custody of the children after they divorced in June 1978.
* Fred kept drinking and lost his job later that year. He resigned from the fire department in Highland Park, Mich., while on a binge visiting friends in South Sioux City. "I had to resign my fire department job in order to draw out my pension and pay restitution," he said.
He was in and out of jail several times for writing bad checks.
"I was out of money and still thirsty," he said.
* Claudia, a nurse, married Kevin McEntee in Michigan in 1981. They had one child, Carrie. The couple divorced in 1984.
* Fred moved to Sioux City in 1980, began driving cab and met Pam Timmerman. They drank together and lived together until she threatened to throw him out.
"She insisted I go to recovery," he said. He did and became sober Nov. 9, 1980. They wed in 1982.
"I'd been through a lot of pain and was reintroduced to the loving God I had known as a kid," he said. "I surprised myself staying sober."
Pam also got sober in the early 1980s. The couple attended the Church of All Nations in Sioux City and Fred found work as a painter in the maintenance department at Goodwill Industries. He earned a degree at Briar Cliff College and worked his way up to vice president at Goodwill, his place of employment until 1998.
* Fred and Claudia's son, Scott, then 25, disappeared from his Michigan home in 2002. His remains were found a year later. There were no signs of foul play, Fred said. They buried their son and still miss him terribly.
* In 2003, Fred was ordained. For the past 5 1/2 years he has served as pastor for the United Methodist Church of Mapleton and nearby Ticonic.
* In January 2007, Pam died of pneumonia. Four bouts of cancer, Fred said, weakened her immune system.
Fred buried his wife, grieved, traveled to the Holy Land and immersed himself in his ministry. Something, someone was missing.
"I was terribly lonely on Sundays, coming home to an empty house following the service," he said.
Fred reached out to his daughter, Angie, on April 15, calling to ask if he could drive to Sioux City and visit her and her five children. One catch: Angie was hosting her mother for Mom's birthday.
"Angie assured me it would be OK, so I headed to Sioux City with the intention of stopping for a small gift for Claudia," he said.
Fred forgot to pick up a present. He improvised at the party and scribbled an "IOU" for dinner at her favorite restaurant. She didn't have to go with him. He'd pay for her and a friend to have dinner anywhere.
"Dad," Angie told him later, "Mom sounded like she was really looking forward to going with you."
A couple of weeks later they dined at Applebee's and discovered both were vastly different from 1975. Fred surprised Claudia with a good-night kiss.
"Our lives had been transformed by God," Fred said. "I'm not sure if we would have called that evening a date, but dates began to follow."
Claudia moved from Sioux City to an apartment in Mapleton in June. One month later they told the congregation at St. John's they would marry this winter.
Claudia will wear a burgundy and black dress today; Fred's suit is dark, conservative.
There are other differences between now and then. He's now 58; she's 52. They haven't lived together before today. They remain sober. A minister will marry them today, not a judge as they had in 1975. The entire congregation has been invited to the wedding celebration and a reception that follows at the church.
Claudia will be the one wearing a new ring. It is engraved, "True Love Waits."
Waited 29 years.
Following a honeymoon trip to Israel, the couple will come home to Mapleton.
And pray they'll live happily ever after.
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Someone wrote on Dec 1, 2007 5:51 PM:
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Mrs. C wrote on Dec 1, 2007 7:39 AM: