Meet Longboat’s Lovebirds

Whether they met as children much later in life, every couple has a unique love story.

In honor of Valentine’s Day Feb. 14, meet three Key couples who have been struck by Cupid’s arrow.

Childhood sweethearts: David and Maggie Brenner

Were David and Maggie Brenner middle school sweethearts? You’ll have to ask them.

“We kept seeing each other through high school but dated other people,” Maggie Brenner said. “We didn’t even go to senior prom together, so we weren’t very serious.”

“Oh, we weren’t?” David Brenner said. “That’s news to me.”

The couple met in seventh grade in 1948, in Philadelphia. In the ninth grade, they went on their first date to an Ice Capades show on New Year’s Eve.

They started dating exclusively in college, when both went to the University of Pennsylvania.

They married Dec. 19, 1957 and have remained happy ever since.

“If you have a common history like we do, there’s not too many surprises,” Maggie Brenner said. “We like the same things.”

The Brenners lived in the Philadelphia area for most of their marriage and raised three children. The couple had vacationed on Longboat Key since 1967 and moved here full time in 1999.

They enjoy the culture of Longboat Key and the Sarasota area, especially the arts scene.

“It has always been a great place to spend time,” Maggie Brenner said. “In retirement, we knew this was where we were going to be.”

After 58 years of marriage, the couple says the secret to their success is their compatibility.

“We really have a ton of common interests,” David Brenner said. “We’ll see something in the paper or in conversation with someone, and we’ll react the same. It’s rare when one of us will go nuts, and if we do, it’s usually over the same thing. We’ve had a quiet, peaceful home.”

Love after loss: B.J. And Dave Bishop

B.J. and Dave Bishop prove it’s possible to find love after loss.

Both were widowed in 2009, and on June 8, 2011, B.J. Bishop was shopping for a book about grief at Books-A-Million.

“I thought the book sounded fairly stupid, but I went to get it anyway,” she said. “I shuffled along the shelves right into Dave.”

 They couple talked in the aisle for a few minutes and decided to get coffee together right away. After that, they started dating steadily.

That September, the couple went on a Mediterranean cruise with their friends.

“I think I knew he was it on the cruise,” B.J. Bishop said. “We were going to Majorca, and Dave came down and said I have to see the view. I went out and looked at the amazing view and knew right there this is it.”

Unlike B.J. Bishop, Dave Bishop doesn’t have a moment he can specifically pinpoint to knowing he wanted to be with B.J. in the long-run.

“I made my decision slowly,” he said. “There was no moment where the lightbulb just went off. It just got there.”

“Once he did get there, there hasn’t been a day where I didn’t know how much he loved me,” B.J. Bishop said.

They married Oct. 19, 2011.

 “We find blessings in tragedy sometimes,” Dave Bishop said. “We have to let each other know how we feel a lot. Life can change on a dime, and letting each other know how much we love them on a day-to-day basis is the hallmark of our relationship.”

Keeping the romance alive: Jack and Nancy Rozance

Call Jack and Nancy Rozance Dr. and Mrs. Romance.

“Spell check always changes ‘Rozance’ to ‘Romance,’ and when we were dating, he sent me something that accidentally changed to ‘Romance,’ and that nickname just stuck,” Nancy Rozance said. “He’s my Dr. Romance.”

The couple met on a hike in 2006 on vacation to Newport Coast, Calif.

“I noticed her the day before, and what I noticed was her laugh,” Jack Rozance said. “I remember in the back of my mind before the hike that this will be an interesting walk. I just knew.”

Nancy Rozance lived in Connecticut, and Jack Rozance lived in California, and after the vacation, the two emailed back and forth before talking on the phone and agreeing on a date.

Their long distance relationship lasted a year, and Jack Rozance proposed in Napa, Calif. They were married in July 2007, and Nancy Rozance moved to California. It was the second marriage for both of them.

“I think I fell in love with his patience, his gentleness, his big blue eyes and his respect for everyone,” Nancy Rozance said. “I’m very lucky.”

The couple moved to Longboat Key six years ago.

“As we retired, we decided we could move anywhere with no snow or ice,” Jack Rozance said. “When we moved here, we dropped down to one car and decided to become involved in the same stuff. We’re lucky we like a lot of the same things.”