DP People

Attorney and Mrs. Robert L. Fleming, of Main Street, Dallas, recently marked their 66th wedding anniversary.

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Attorney and Mrs. Robert Fleming on their wedding day in 1943 in Mystic, Connecticut.

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Attorney and Mrs. Robert Fleming, of Dallas, recently celebrated their 66th wedding anniversary.

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Theirs was a war-time wedding, celebrated on August 14th, 1943 at the Mystic Congregational Church in Mystic, Connecticut.

Lieutenant Fleming was on a 10-day pass from the Navy before being sent to the Solomon Islands where he was the pilot of a Catalina Black Cat, flying night time search and destroy missions in the South Pacific.

He subsequently served as a Naval flight instructor before his discharge in 1945.

Mrs. Fleming is the former Eleanor Duncklee, who grew up in New London and Mystic, Connecticut, the daughter of the late Elmer and Mildred Duncklee.

She met her future husband while both were college students in Boston, Massachusetts.

She graduated from Simmons College with a B.S.N. and much later, after raising her children, entered the work force in 1964 as a school nurse in the Dallas School District, working primarily at Dallas Elementary and Gate of Heaven Schools.

She retired from nursing in 1987.

Mr. Fleming was born in and grew up in Dallas, the son of the late Miriam Harris of Alderson and the late Dr. John C. Fleming, who practiced medicine from the Main Street home.

He was one of the 22-member Class of 1937, graduating from Dallas Borough High School which now houses the Back Mountain Memorial Library.

He attended Harvard College and enlisted in the Navy upon graduation in 1941.

Using the GI Bill, he graduated from Harvard Law School in 1948 and returned to Wyoming Valley as an attorney in private practice for over 50 years with offices in Wilkes-Barre and Dallas.

Atty. Fleming retired from active practice in 1999 when he turned 80 years old.

Mr. and Mrs. Fleming enjoy traveling, having breakfast “out” with family and friends, reading great books out loud to each other, staying current with government and political issues of the day, rooting for Dallas girls’ field hockey teams and listening to Orioles baseball.

They are long-time members of the Dallas United Methodist Church.

Mr. and Mrs. Fleming are the parents of seven children, all of whom graduated from Dallas High School.

They are Susan Fitzpatrick, of Coventry, RI.; Margaret (Peggy) Fleming Karalius, of Hinsdale, IL; Jean Fleming Posey, of Wayland, MA; Lucy Messersmith, of Dallas; John Fleming, of Colorado Springs, CO.; Nancy Stephenson, of Philadelphia; and William (Bill) Fleming, of Arlington, VA.

They also have 12 grandchildren, Deborah, Rebecca, and Kerry Fitzpatrick; Melinda and Robert Karalius; Adam Posey; Michael and Megan Messersmith; John C. Fleming III; Elena Stephenson; Benjamin and Sarah Fleming.