Thomas and Janice (Zielinski) Kuznicki

A blind date set up by a mutual friend has turned into 50 years of sharing their lives together. Thomas and Janice (Zielinski) Kuznicki are celebrating their golden wedding anniversary this month. Tom was serving in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War when he proposed, sending the ring in a Mennen Aftershave box all the way from the Philippines. The pair were married on Saturday, Oct. 12, 1968 at St. Hedwig’s Church in Dunkirk by the Reverend John Hrycyna. Tom’s cousin, Robert Peterson, was his best man, and Janice’s cousin, Joyce (Bielecki) Przytula, was her matron of honor.

Janice, the daughter of Stanley and Hattie (Marczynski) Zielinski of Dunkirk, is a retired medical secretary, and Tom, the son of Thomas and Beatrice (Peterson) Kuznicki of Fredonia, worked as a technician for NCR. The Kuznickis have two daughters, Lisa Gates of Harrisburg, North Carolina and Holly Schoenborn of Buffalo, five granddaughters and two grandsons.