‘Don’t hang up!’ leads to 50 years of wedded bliss for Mike and Lyn St. Dennis
by Mary Jo David
They’re married 50 years and still young at heart. Mike and Lyn St. Dennis, who celebrated their 50th anniversary in 2021, made time for a newspaper interview while in the midst of packing to head up north for an annual ski trip. And, while they admit their 50 years of wedded bliss does NOT extend to packing—they don’t quite agree on method—they are pretty compatible in most other ways!
Lyneen Morgan knew Michael St. Dennis as far back as junior high, when they shared many of the same friends. But it wasn’t until the Sadie Hawkins Dance during their senior year at Waterford Kettering High School that Lyn went out on a limb and asked Mike to be her date.
“He was quiet and smart, and I thought he was a pretty cool guy,” Lyn said.
As for Mike, he recalls with a grin, “Lyn just put a spell on me. I don’t remember much after that!”
They went their separate ways for college, and even broke up for a while. But Mike won her back by telephoning her one day and wooing Lyn with three magic words, “Don’t hang up—!” The rest is history. They were married at the Drayton Plains United Presbyterian Church on April 24, 1971. The wedding was a small affair attended by a close-knit group of family and friends.
“I was fine with a small wedding,” Lyn said. “Although, if I’d known my mom was going to invite so many of her friends, I might have invited a few more of my own!”
“Lyn was the anti-Bridezilla,” Mike says.
He likes to characterize Lyn as being very much like Tatum O’Neal’s character, Addie Loggins, in the movie “Paper Moon,” which, from this writer’s recollection, would mean Lyn tends toward confidence, fun, and a strong survival instinct.
Asked what keeps their marriage solid, Lyn suggested, “We’re pretty compatible. Over the years, we’ve both been heavily invested in family — our own as well as our extended families.” The couple is very proud of their two sons, Christopher and Andrew, and their three teenage grandchildren—Isabella, Walter and Conrad.
Sadly, their son Andy died in 2017 at the age of 40 years. The loss of a child — young or grown — is a major stressor in any relationship, but the St. Dennises have remained a strong couple in the face of their loss.
The only other stressful time worth noting in their lives was building their home on Kaiser Road in 1978. “When people say they built a home, they usually don’t mean they did all the work themselves,” Lyn said. But in their case, except for the plumbing, the couple did do all the building themselves. “We weren’t even finished yet,” adds Lyn, “when Mike’s mom decided we’d be the ones to host Thanksgiving that year!”
The house — they’re still in it — and that Thanksgiving tradition have served them well over the years. Their families blended nicely and their Thanksgiving dinners turned into a long-standing tradition for both of their families.
A self-described “jock,” Lyn has made up for never getting to play sports in high school. She and Mike have great memories of, and are still enjoying, annual ski trips for both downhill and cross-country skiing, regular biking trips, and other special road trips.
Even after 50 years together, Lyn can still appreciate Mike’s dry wit and, most notably, that he “cares about everyone and wants to make the world a better place — he always has.”
As for Mike, he’s still under Lyn’s spell, and in a throwback to “Paper Moon,” he contends she still owes him $200!
THEN: Lyn and Mike St. Dennis—circa 1991. Photo credit: Lyn’s sister, Jane Morgan
NOW: Mike and Lyn St. Dennis of Unadilla Twp. on a recent ski trip in northern Michigan. Photo provided by Lyn St. Dennis
February is the month when SCN celebrates the enduring strength of love. This is our fourth year shining a spotlight on couples from the Stockbridge area who have celebrated 50 years or more of marriage. Many thanks to those couples who were willing to be interviewed for our 2022 feature. (Headline from poem by Elaine Davis.)
Couples we’ve highlighted in previous years include:
- AC and Cheryl Allen
- June and Fred Brockmiller
- Chuck and Joan Bumpus
- Dale and Eileen Conti
- Marvin and Jeanne Cook
- Stan and Susan Daily
- Bev and Dave Glynn
- Arlene and Ron Kaiser
- Jan and George Kitley
- Terry and Dianne Outwater
- Don and Tammy Porter
- Claire and Linda Risner
- Claire and John Sawicki
- Doug and Terry Sommer
- Ivan and Cheryl Wyrick
- Richard and Margaret Morrison
- Jim and Edith Zeitz
