February 9, 2007

Longtime Evergreen residents celebrate 70 years of marriage

George and Agie Fontaine, long-time Evergreen Valley residents, celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary on Dec. 3, 2006, at a luncheon with family and friends at The Villages in Evergreen. The couple was married November 28, 1936, at St. Claire Catholic Church in Santa Clara.

The Fontaines have three children: George Jr. of Jamestown, Maureen Bell of Fallbrook and Janis Christie of San Jose. They also have six grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren, the majority of them Santa Clara County residents.

For more than 25 years, the couple owned a pear and walnut orchard off of Highway 101, south of Tully Road. When the freeway was widened in the early 1960s, a frontage road to their property was name Fontaine Road in George’s honor.

George was the founding member of the Mayfair 4-H with a group of 70 young girls and boys. He also served on the Berryessa School Board while he and his wife owned a farm in that area before moving to Evergreen in 1950.

Both George and Agie gave countless hours to Evergreen Elementary School PTA and Andrew Hill High School PTA and Band Boosters. George was President of the Boosters all four years his son was in the marching band.

Besides the farm, George worked for many years for Cal Pac (CPC), Germaine Seed Company and Liquinox Fertilizer Company. At the latter, he was employed as district salesman for 55 years until he retired in 2001 at age 85. While George was working for these various companies, Agie was a housewife and mother, and in later years, worked at various cleaners in the local area.

George and Agie were childhood sweethearts. The couple said their secret to a long and happy marriage is “treating your spouse as you want to be treated.”