Ernie Jeneault, 83, and Joan (Ladouceur) Todd, 79, will be married Saturday. They dated in the 1950s and when Jeneault left for basic training, Todd ended the relationship with a "Dear John" letter.

(Provided photo)

Ernie Jeneault and Joan (Ladouceur) Todd posed for a photo in December 1952 when they were dating. The couple broke up when Jeneault enlisted into the army. The couple has been apart for 60 years, but will be married on Saturday.

Brewerton, NY -- About 60 years ago, Ernie Jeneault enlisted in the Army and pondered the idea of asking his girlfriend, Joan Ladouceur, to marry him.

"I was going to go to Carbino's in Ogdensburg and buy a ring, but I decided not to propose," Jeneault said. "I didn't want to make her wait for me."

The young couple was in love, but didn't define their relationship in January 1953 when Jeneault went off to basic training and eventually to fight in the Korean War. The couple wrote to each other, but Ladouceur ended the relationship with a "Dear John" letter about four months later.

"I met someone else," Ladouceur said. "I don't remember what the letter said exactly, but I told him I met someone."

Jeneault said he was hurt, but never let Ladouceur know.

"I told her that I was seeing someone else too," he said. "I lied."

Jeneault said he thinks about what could have happened if he proposed 60 years ago, but he believes in his heart that everything happens for a reason.

Jeneault and Ladouceur went their separate ways. Jeneault was married to Rosemarie Brunet in 1956 and had nine children. Rosemarie (Brunet) Jeneault passed away in 1983 and he remarried in 1984 to Carolyn Stevenson. She passed away in 2011.

Ladouceur also married. She married Lawrence Todd, the man she met when Jeneault enlisted in the Army. The couple married in 1954 and had six children. Lawrence Todd passed away in 2010.

Over the last six decades the pair both raised families in St. Lawrence County. Jeneault lived in Ogdensburg. Now Joan Todd, she lived in Gouverneur. They bumped into each other a handful of times over the years, but never reconnected until last summer.

Jeneault called Todd and asked her on a date.

Todd, 79, said she wasn't ready to be in a relationship. Jeneault , 83, said he wasn't looking for one either.

"I just wanted someone to go out and eat with," Jeneault said.

But after a few months, the couple was already planning a vacation together and in December 2012, Jeneault finally visited Carbino's Jewelers in Ogdensburg to make a special purchase.

Ernie Jeneault and Joan (Ladouceur) Todd will be married Saturday. They are seen here at Jeneault's daughter's home in Brewerton.

"I don't know what her answer would have been back then," Jeneault said. "But she said yes this time."

The couple will be married Saturday at St. James Church in Gouverneur. The couples' now combined family features 15 adult children, 32 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren. The majority of the family will be in attendance on Saturday.

Recently, Jeneault and Todd reminisced over their romance 60 years ago in the dinning room of Jeneault's daughter's Brewerton home.

"It was so long ago, that I don't remember much," Todd said. "But I remembered we loved to dance."

The couple's fond memories include numerous dates that featured dancing the jitterbug for hours.

They hope to dance it again when they marry on Saturday.

"True love? Yes, we believe it," Jeneault said.

Contact Sarah Moses at smoses@syracuse.com or 470-2298. Follow @SarahMoses315