WWII Veteran, 88, Marries Longtime Sweetheart, 94

As Veterans Day approached, Ted Knox reminisced about his six-year tour of duty in the Navy as a gunner in a torpedo bombing airplane during World War II.

Knox, a former board member of Valley Federal Savings and Loan in Chatsworth, joined the military after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1942.

He achieved the rank of 1st class petty officer.

Knox served on the USS Saratoga in the Pacific and the USS Leyte in the Atlantic and racked up five gold stars based on major engagements -- and didn’t shoot his gun once in all of the bombing raids, he said.

Knox had more than 100 aircraft carrier landing notches on his belt.

He's proud of his military service.

Today, however, the 88-year-old is most proud to be a newlywed.

While he enjoys life as a retired camera-shop owner he beats his chest over landing the love of his life: Sally Brunken, 94, of Northridge.

Last month the couple exchanged vows in a  backyard wedding in front of 35 of their family and friends that ranged in age from 5 to 100 years old.

Ted and Sally met nine years ago at a potluck dinner at a local church.

She was holding the door open from those sporting casseroles and the last one through the door was Ted.

A friend introduced them and the rest is history.

"Ted is a gift and blessing to my mother and our family, said Sally's daughter, Karen Hoyle. "I believe that both our families are very happy that our parents have a companionship and love in their lives.  Hoyle, who is an outside sales person at Chatsworth-based Jacon Fasteners and Electronics, said she could hardly stop the tears at the wedding ceremony.  "I was just so touched  to see such happiness, especially for my mother and Ted. Sometimes it seems when people become seniors, they think life is almost over and give up. I believe, my mother and Ted send the message to others that you can have love and happiness at any age."

All this time, Ted and Sally have spent every morning, afternoon and evening together at her Northridge home.

Ted, a former member of the and the Reseda and , would go home every night to sleep in his own bed and tend his garden.

But one fateful night this past August, Sally slipped and fell in her home and broke her hip as she turned off the thermostat.

Ted, fortunately, was there at the time.

The gentleman that he was, Ted decided he needed to take care of the love of his life so he moved in.

However, the couple didn’t feel right living together without being married.

So Ted popped the question after their nightly glass of wine.

“I asked Sally if she would marry me and she said yes,” Ted recalled earlier this week. “We kissed and called Karen (Sally’s daughter).”

That’s all it took and within a month’s time, Sally longtime friend, Louis Kerker, 100, walked her down the aisle on Oct. 15 just as he had done in the late 1930s.

He also drove himself to the wedding from his home in Bakersfield where he volunteers at the Sheriff’s Department, delivers food to the homeless and is a handyman for an abused woman’s shelter.

“Having both families and friends at the wedding was very important,” Sally said.

Between Sally, who stands 5-foot 6-inches, and Ted, a strapping 6-foot 1½-inches, they have six children, eight grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren, all of whom came to the celebration.

The couple quipped they were thrilled everyone in the wedding party walked down the aisle without a cane or a walker.

The Knoxes are still planning a honeymoon.

Both have done extensive traveling in their lifetimes so they aren’t in a rush to see the world.

Sally alone has been on 21 cruises, but who’s counting?

She was raised in the Glendale/Burbank area and attended Burbank High School where she was friends with actress Audra Lindley, who played Mrs. Roper on the hit sitcom “Three’s Company.”

Lindley, who has since past away, took Sally to a photographer’s home where he decided to put Sally in a low-cut green dress on the cover of True Story in 1935 when Sally was 17 years old.

Her “Hollywood career” ended very quickly when her parents refused to sign a modeling contract.

They told the under-aged beauty they didn’t want her hanging out with “those Hollywood types,” Sally said.

She went on to be married, had a son and daughter, and finally went to work in the office helping out in her husband’s carpet business.

She was a widow two times by the time she met Ted, the former president of the Reseda Chamber of Commerce and a present member of the Owensmouth-Canoga Park Historical Society.

They both agree eating properly, exercising and helping others is important for a long life.

But, Sally said the best thing that ever happened to her was giving birth to her son and daughter.

“That’s really something. That was the best,” she said. “And thinking about my childhood, I had eight brothers and sisters. It was like a party off the time.”

Ted’s advice to youngsters: Study hard.

“And watch what type of people you hang around with,” he said. “It’s important for young people today; choosing your friends is very important too.”