Ethel and Gabriel Vega celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary
May 16, with 30 friends and family at a lunch at Mama Mia
’s Italian Restaurant. The guests came from as far as Santa
Barbara and Grants Pass, Ore.
Ethel and Gabriel Vega celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary May 16, with 30 friends and family at a lunch at Mama Mia’s Italian Restaurant. The guests came from as far as Santa Barbara and Grants Pass, Ore.
The couple received proclamations from the City of Morgan Hill, the County Board of Supervisors and the CEO of Airstream, Inc.
The Vegas – Ethel is 89 and Gabriel is 90 – moved to Sycamore Avenue in the mid 1930s when they bought the Patron Ranch, then lived on DeWitt Avenue until World War II when they moved to Mare Island for the duration.
After the war, the Vegas and their two children (they later added a third) moved to San Jose and reopened a family grocery store at Capital and Story avenues. In 1981 Gabriel retired as a shop planner in paint and varnish and the couple moved back to Morgan Hill.
“We are quite comfortable at Woodland Estates,” Gabriel said.
The couple’s three children, Gabriel, Robert and Ann Marie have produced seven grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren for which the elder Vegas said they were grateful.
Gabriel and Ethel were married May 17, 1934. He credited their long marriage to luck and to a mother who raised him right.
“You have to find the right two people,” Gabriel said, “and I was born to the right woman.”
He said his mother was strict but took very good care of him and his siblings. The Vegas first met in grammar school.
