28 | AUGUST 17 • 2023 

OUR COMMUNITY

T

he fun, easy part of any 
relationship can be meeting 
each other; the harder part can 
be working at it and staying together. 
Meet Aaron and Winnie Krieger, a set of 
great-grandparents who have shared a 
beautiful relationship since age 17. 
Both attended Central High in Detroit 
and only knew each other peripherally. 
In 1951, when they were in 12th grade, 
their lockers were near one another’s. 
“One day, as Winnie walked by, I asked 
her if she was going to the senior play,” 
Aaron recalled. “She said, ‘Are you asking 
me?’ and I said, ‘Of course!’”
That senior play, The Late Christopher 
Bean, was their first date.
“And that’s when we started ‘going 
steady,’ as they used to say,” Winnie said. 
Eighteen months after they started 
dating, while Aaron attended Wayne 
State and Winnie worked for the Board 
of Education, the couple decided to get 
married. They were 19 years old.
“We were just a couple of kids!” 

Winnie said, laughing. 
Naturally, their parents had 
some interesting reactions to this 
announcement. “My mother said, ‘It’s 
about time!’ but Winnie’s mother said, 
‘Are you crazy?’” Aaron said. (It took 
a few years until Aaron won over his 
concerned mother-in-law, but he did 
manage it in the end.)
They got married in August 1953 
in the Detroit garden of Winnie’s aunt 
and uncle. A short-lived rainstorm 
on the wedding day had all the guests 
run for cover and made the bride cry, 
but officiant Rabbi Jacob Segal of Adat 
Shalom said it was a good omen.
They honeymooned in the Catskills. 
As Winnie and Aaron raised their 
children, Carolyn, Jeffrey and Michael, 
they always emphasized and encouraged 
kindness.
“I know it must have resonated because 
each of our children has demonstrated 
this trait in the way they live their 
lives,” said a very proud Winnie. They 

consider themselves incredibly blessed 
to have six grandchildren and five great-
grandchildren. 
Over the years, Winnie had climbed 
the ranks professionally and was a 
supervisor in the 46th District Court 
when she retired in 1996. Aaron owns a 
business, Aladdin Drapery Company in 
Southfield (their motto is “Magic with 
Windows”), from which he officially 
retired in 2003.
The couple live in Farmington Hills, 
except when they escape the Michigan 
winter and dash off to Florida, which 
they’ve been doing for the past 20 years. 
This year, the Kriegers will celebrate 
their 70th wedding anniversary on Aug. 
16, an impressive feat in and of itself. 

Celebrating
70 Years
Together

ROCHEL BURSTYN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

HOW WE MET

Aaron and 
Winnie early 
in their 
relationship

Aaron and 
Winnie 
Krieger
The Krieger family: Carolyn, 
Winnie, Aaron, Jeff and Michael