THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2022 Page 3 ~ THE ADVOCATE ASKS ~ After 48 years of marriage, Cathy and Ken Strum like to spread the love, sharing a passion for missions that help people Editor’s Note: For this week’s interview, we sat down with Cathy and Ken Strum, Malden natives and high school sweethearts who have been married for close to half a century. With Valentine’s Day being observed on Monday, we asked them about the essence of love, what makes their marriage work and how they “spread the love” to society’s less fortunate people through volunteer service in various missions connected with their church, including Bread of Life in Malden, Give Kids The World and Habitat for Humanity. Cathy is a Christian educator at the Green Street Baptist Church in Melrose, where Ken is on the church’s Board of Missions. Cathy is a 1970 graduate of Malden High School. After high school, she began working for the City of Malden Public Schools in the cafeteria as an administrative assistant. She retired after 27 years. Ken was a route salesman for Wise Potato Chips for 25 years. The couple got married in July 1973 and will be observing their 49th anniversary this summer. They have two children: a son who lives in Peabody and a daughter who lives in Sandown, N.H., and who gave birth to twin sons. Cathy and Ken bought a 1950 one-level ranch home on Endicott Street in Saugus in 1996. Since becoming residents in town, they have been in many volunteer activities while continuing their church missions. They are both members on the town’s Council on Aging. They have worked for several years as poll workers; Cathy works as a clerk while Ken works as a warden. The couple credits a hard life growing up poor with alcoholic parents in a city project with their wavers from helping me when I need help. I get more in love with her every year. I love our life now. We’re not the richest; we’re not the poorest; but our lives are great. Q: So your missions are an extension of your love? Cathy: Absolutely. Ken: Our missions are an exBEFRIENDING A CELEBRITY: Several years ago, during her volunteer work for “Give Kids The World” of Kissimmee, Fla., Cathy Strum got to scoop out some ice cream for actor John Stamos and his family. Stamos, who is a big supporter of the charity, posed for this photo with Cathy. (Courtesy photo to The Saugus Advocate) passion for helping people – all times of the year, not just during the holidays. Thanksgivings are pretty special at the Strum house: They invite 14 people for dinner, but before they eat, they must do volunteer work for Bread of Life, helping to make Thanksgiving Day a better day for less fortunate people. Highlights of this week’s interview follow: Q: Tell me an interesting story, Cathy, about how you met and how you knew that Ken was the right guy. Cathy: Well, he was quite comical. We grew up together, and he was a funny guy, and we used to have a lot of fun together with all of our friends. I can’t actually tell you when we started dating because we were with each other a lot and enjoying each other’s company. And all of a sudden – I can’t say the actual date – we just fell in love with each other. It hasn’t stopped til this day, 48 years later, so it’s kind of cool. So, we like to give back a lot to different people. We do a lot of mission work and spreading the love there and hoping that they appreciate it. And they absolutely do, because you can tell by their faces. And it’s been fun. Ken is on board. We think alike; we act alike; so we’re, like, made for each other. We’ve been told that by pastors. Q: Ken, what drew you to Kathy? Ken: I thought she was a cutie! We came from the same lifestyle growing up: poor neighborhood, alcoholic parents and stuff. She was just a down-to-earth person. And still to this day, we don’t say we love each other all of the time. But I know that we do. I’ve had the crises with my heart and my polio – which I’ve had since three months old. She never tension of our love and giving people what we didn’t have. Back in the days, they didn’t have food pantries. And that’s how we feed people. At the Bread of Life, we not only feed people at Thanksgiving, but every month. Q: How did you get involved with the Bread of Life? Cathy: I heard about it and I checked it out. It’s always been my passion to spread the love and the kindness. Ken: That’s with the church. That’s why I’m on the mission committee. We do things to help people. And one of our favorite missions that we love – we use our vacation time to go to Kissimmee, Florida, to “Give Kids The World” – where the “Make A Wish Kids” make a wish to go to Disney – stay at this village – they have 350 villas that the “wish” child stays in. Everything in the village is free. They can have ice cream at 8 o’clock in the morning. They can have frappes at 8 o’clock in the mornASKS | SEE PAGE 4
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