Rita and Rose Pelletier were 20 and 22, respectively, when they walked down the aisle, one after the other, at St. George Church, in Westport. Rose was escorted by her father, Pierre, Rita by her oldest brother, Paul. The two young sisters from Westport were marrying two brothers from Fall River. As they left the church, a Fall River Herald photographer recorded the event. It was July 3, 1948.

Rose had met Frederic “Whitey” Morrissette at work, at Kerr Thread Mill in Fall River.

“I came back from vacation and I saw this good-looking guy,” says Rose. “He asked the floor lady to ask me if I would go out with him. I told her, ‘If he wants to take me out, he can come and ask me himself.’ So he did. We went out and we’ve been going out ever since.”

Rita had been visiting family in New York. When she returned, she commented on a photograph of a handsome sailor on the piano.

“He’s mine,” said Rose, “but he’s got a tall, dark and handsome brother. Would you like to meet him?”

“We went out on a double date,” says Rita. “When Raymond Morrissette kissed me goodnight, at that very moment I knew that he was the man for me.”

Rita worked at an amusement park in Dartmouth. “She wouldn’t get off until 11 o’clock at night,” says Raymond. “I would take the bus all the way to Westport to pick her up, walk her home, then would run like hell for the last bus back to Fall River. And on Sundays I would go to St. George Church just to hear her sing in the choir.”

The Pelletier family was large — 14 children. “And we lived in a humungous house on Beeden Road,” says Rose.

“Whitey went to my father to ask for my hand in marriage,” says Rose. “My father was in the shed plucking chickens. My father knew what he had in mind, so he kind of dragged things along because Whitey was helping him pluck chickens while he got up the courage to ask!

“We waited two years to get married –– to save money. By that time Rita was engaged. When it came time to pick the wedding day, I wanted July 3.”

They both chose the same gown, the same bouquet of white roses — “with an orchid in the center that we could pull out for a corsage when we left the reception,” says Rita.

The Rev. Alphonse Gauthier performed the ceremony.

“He had already done Rose and Whitey’s vows. Then he turned to me and said, ‘Rita, will you take Frederic to be your lawful wedded husband?’ and I said, ‘No,’ and his eyes became wide and again he said, ‘Rita, will you take Frederic?’ and I said, ‘No, I want Raymond. Frederic is over there.’ Frederic almost had two wives.”

Rita and Ray lived in Plymouth for five years, where Ray worked for Morse Shoe Company. “We didn’t see Rose and Whitey much because we didn’t even have a car. We had to take the bus to Fall River to visit them.”

Eventually, the couple returned to Fall River, where Ray managed stores for Morse for 44 years. Rose and Whitey always worked in the textile mills.

“We were always close,” says Rose.

“In those days, the family meant more to you than friends,” says Rita. “Every Sunday night was get-together night at our house, in the east end of Fall River. The whole family was invited. They would come at 6 and go home at 8.”

“And in the summer we would have clambakes at our house in Westport,” says Rose.

“We’ve been through a lot,” says Rose. “Whitey had cancer. They took his voice box.

“And I had a massive tumor pressing on my brain. It’s not like it’s been a bed of roses, but you just take the good with the bad.”

“I have essential tremor — a cousin to Parkinson’s,” says Rita. “It’s inherited from my mother and grandmother. Ray has had open heart surgery and hernias. In church they’re always saying, ‘Please pray for Raymond Morrissette; he’s in the hospital.’ And the next week he’s right there back in church. He’s like the Energizer bunny.”

“I don’t stay down for long,” says Ray.

The two couples now live a stone’s throw from each other in Fall River. From the balcony of Rita and Ray’s apartment at Riverview Towers, you can see Point Gloria, where Rose and Whitey live with their son.

“When the four of us get together now, it’s spontaneous,” says Rose.

Rose and Frederic, Rita and Raymond renewed their vows on Aug. 9 at the same church they were married in 60 years ago. “When you get married, you get married for life,” says Rose. “Richer, poorer, sickness, health.”

“Our faith has seen us through,” says Rita. “It’s not two people that get married: it’s you, your husband and God.

“I feel a stronger love for Ray now than when we were first married. At our age, you’ve gone through so much, you’re like one person. You read each other’s thoughts.”

“It’s a different love every stage of your life,” says Raymond.

cgrosch@projo.com