The opening of the door marked ‘Mayor’s Quarters’ reveals a glimpse of a smiling couple. From the room, the pair waves brightly at the beloved wedding guests who peer in from the dimly lit hallway. They coo with affection. The door quickly snaps tight. A rustle of movement sweeps through the group of about 20, and they move outside to the stone steps of Syracuse City Hall for the ceremony.

On Friday afternoon, former Syracuse University professor, Frederick Marvin, 91, and his partner Ernst Schuh, 89, celebrated 52 years together with a wedding.

The patches of gray and white overhead look ominous as beads of rain start to form a dotted pattern on the concrete. At the base of the steps, various media outlets set up to shoot. The clicking of tripods accompanies the guests’ growing concerns as they look warily up at the sky.

The couple slips out from the heavy wooden doors to a chorus of awe as the steady drip of rain suddenly comes to a halt. At that moment, a distant set of chimes rings, as if their wedding would be incomplete without some kind of music.

—

‘We met through music, our whole lives have been filled with music,’ Schuh said of his relationship with Marvin, a former SU professor and artist-in-residence for 22 years until his retirement in 1990.

The harmonious relationship began in Austria, where Schuh is originally from. The pair met at the Abbey of St. Florian, an Austrian monastery where the grave of famous composer, Anton Bruckner, is located. Their shared passion for music ignited their deep friendship.

They spent the next 15 years building their personal and professional partnership as Marvin toured through Europe and the United States as a concert pianist with Schuh as his manager. In 1968, Marvin accepted a position teaching piano at SU and the couple changed bases from Vienna to Syracuse, where they have lived for the past 43 years. The couple takes regular, extended trips back to their second home in Vienna.

‘We’ve taken care of each other every day since,’ said Marvin with a smile.

—

In June, the couple obtained a certificate from Austria that legally grants them the same equal rights as a document of marriage.

The pair then decided to make their marriage official in the United States as well, now that gay marriage is legal in New York state. Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner said she was touched by a letter she received from the couple and agreed to conduct the ceremony.

‘If I can, when I’m asked by couples, particularly gay couples who have been denied the right for so long, I’m privileged to do it,’ Miner said. ‘It’s a great honor to be asked to officiate over a couple who has been together for 52 years. It gives everyone hope in the power of love.’

Both said that through the years, they did not experience much prejudice. Marvin and Schuh’s families are no longer alive, but they both said they were always very supportive of the couple’s partnership and how it has grown through the years.

‘His mother called me her American son,’ Marvin said. ‘But in those times we didn’t think about marriage because we knew that it was an impossibility until now. Now that we can — why not!’

—

After 52 years, the day has finally come.

Marvin, in a midnight-blue jacket, and Schuh, in an emerald green suit and crimson vest, bestow each guest with a kiss on both cheeks. The pair climbs back to the top of the stairs. They stand, framed in the stone archway. Miner clears her throat.

With their matching hearing aids, the couple leans in regularly throughout the ceremony to hear the mayor. They peer down at the sheet she’s holding to perfectly recite their commitment to each other.

Finally Miner announces, ‘I, in accordance with the authority vested in me by the state of New York, reaffirm and publicly pronounce you married.’

As the applause rings, Schuh and Marvin wave, their smiles wide.

Though this is a momentous day for the couple and their friends, their wedding is also a show of support for others wishing to do the same.

‘We want to be a role model for others,’ Schuh said.

Miner, who has received several positive emails in response to the couple’s wedding, agrees their union is also a celebration for the Syracuse community.

‘People are just happy to be part of this, happy that New York state finally did this and that we could all share in their relationship and their love, and now the government can recognize that as well.’

As the applause dies down, the tripods click again as the reporters race to the top, surrounding the newlyweds.

‘We can’t even see them, or embrace them,’ said Rosa Benavides, the couple’s neighbor and friend of 50 years. Though she was anxious to congratulate the couple, she notes that Schuh and Marvin’s relationship has made her realize that some things are worth waiting for.

‘They showed us that some love is so profound and so deep that it is worth waiting for to have the beautiful ending that they had today.’

dmodiama@syr.edu  

Published on October 16, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Danielle: dmodiama@syr.edu | @daniemarieodie