Sparta couple celebrates 75th anniversary

Sparta — Cecelia Rue, 91, and Joseph F Monesmith, 95, of Sparta, NJ celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary on July 31, 2018. The couple met in 1943 in Odessa, Texas while Joseph was stationed there as an aircraft mechanic. Later Joseph served as a B-29 Flight Engineer Officer completing the maximum 35 bombing missions over Japan from Guam. He earned the Distinguish Flying Cross and the Air Medal with four clusters.
They were the owners of Rue’s Lodge (currently Sheridan's Lodge) at Lake Iliff, Andover Twp, from 1964 to 1978, before moving to Paulinskill Lake. Cecelia Rue is an artist who studied at SCCC. Joseph is a retired Andover Twp volunteer fireman. More recently, they also lived in North Fort Myers, FL before moving back to Sussex County last year. They are regular visitors to their sons' churches, Redeemer Lutheran (Joseph E Monesmith,73) and Newton Methodist (Fred Monesmith, 70). They have 7 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren.