Pictured are Dennis and Lila Darling who returned to Warren for their 50th anniversary.

Dennis and Lila Darling, transplants to the Harrisburg, since their marriage in 1974 in Warren, returned to Warren recently to celebrate “where it all began” with a visit to their favorite places around town and concluding with a visit with cousins and the burial site of Dennis’s parents, Marian and Clyde Darling of Warren.

Dennis and Lila met during the summer of 1969, soon after she accepted a job transfer with Penelec from their Johnstown office to Warren. Just one year out of college, she again assumed the position of home economist, following the retirement of the late Evelyn Overturf.

In her position, Lila (Eggert) provided multiple types of “electric living” programs for adults and children out of the company’s electric living centers in Warren and Bradford.

Programs centered around cooking demonstrations highlighting the latest in electric appliances. Many Warren County residents now in their mid ’60s will remember with fondness their experiences learning to cook via Penelec’s summer “Fun on the Range” program aimed at children, ages 8-10. Those weeklong cooking classes featured fun recipes and a charming graduation ceremony and visit by “Reddy Kilowatt.”

As fate would have it, the consolidation of Penelec’s electric living centers systemwide prompted Lila’s resignation and move out of state in 1971. Despite the passage of time and distance, their early romance resumed via long distance, with Lila then living in Massachusetts and Dennis living in Oil City.

Following their wedding Oct. 26, 1974, Dennis and Lila pursued higher education beyond their respective bachelor’s degrees. Dennis achieved a Masters’ Degree in Community Psychology; Lila, certification as a Registered Dietitian. They built successful careers in state government in Harrisburg, and they raised a son. Dennis retired as the Director of the Office of Community Services, Department of Community and Economic Development. Lila retired as a Public Health Manager overseeing the Cardiovascular Health Section, Bureau of Health Promotion and Risk Reduction, Pennsylvania Department of Health.

Throughout it all, they’ve felt that special draw back to Warren, the place where it all began. The place where Dennis was raised; the place where they met, fell in love, and married … the place that will always feel like home.