8th November 2025 – (Miami) A Miami couple recognised as the world’s longest‑married pair have attributed their extraordinary 83‑year marriage to a straightforward principle: loving one another.
Eleanor Gittens, 107, and her husband, Lyle, 108, offered the succinct explanation when asked by LongeviQuest, an organisation documenting supercentenarians, about the key to their enduring partnership. Their status was confirmed by LongeviQuest’s global validation commission, which examined the couple’s 1942 marriage certificate, U.S. census records and corroborating archival documents spanning decades.
According to a 4th November report from LongeviQuest, the Gittens duo became the titleholders following the October death of Brazil’s Manoel Angelim Dino. Dino, 106, and his wife of 85 years, Maria de Sousa Dino, 102, had led the rankings since February. LongeviQuest also noted that Eleanor and Lyle are the oldest married couple ever recorded, with a combined age exceeding 216, and that their relationship has endured war and numerous hardships.
The pair first met in 1941 at a college basketball game in which Lyle represented Clark Atlanta University and Eleanor was in the stands. She later recalled being unable to remember the result against local rivals Morehouse College, only the moment she first encountered Lyle, who would go on to be inducted into Clark Atlanta’s men’s basketball hall of fame.
With the second world war under way and Lyle anticipating conscription, the couple pressed ahead with wedding plans. They married on 4th June 1942 during a three‑day pass from his US Army training in Georgia. The day also marked Lyle’s first meeting with Eleanor’s family, after he travelled in a racially segregated carriage—an arduous journey before the civil rights era that he said was worthwhile for Eleanor.
Soon after, Lyle deployed to Italy with the US Army’s 92nd Infantry Division. Eleanor, already pregnant with the first of their three children, moved to New York City, where she met Lyle’s family for the first time. She supported herself and the baby doing payroll for an aircraft parts manufacturer while the couple exchanged heavily censored letters, often redacted to the point where little of Lyle’s writing was visible.
After the war, they settled in New York, passed the city’s civil service examination together and built careers in government, travelling widely, including to Eleanor’s favourite destination, Guadeloupe. At 69, Eleanor earned a doctorate in urban education from Fordham University in the Bronx. They were active for decades in Clark Atlanta’s alumni association before relocating to Miami to be closer to their daughter, Angela.
Lyle has spoken of his fondness for New York and expressed surprise at the record, but said he is simply pleased to remain at Eleanor’s side. In a video shared by LongeviQuest, he reflected on their life together, saying they enjoy each other’s company and have shared many experiences.