The Faiman love story began at a dance hall in Yakima

Lou Faiman will never forget the first time he saw Donna Hayes.

In 1954, he walked through the doors of Playland, a dance hall in Yakima.

“I saw this blue-eyed blonde,” he recalled. “Our eyes met. She was wearing a turquoise sweater.”

Donna smiled.

“I was only 16, but my dad let me go out with my older cousins,” she said. “I was wearing 2-inch white heels and we had a lot of laughter because he danced the Eastern Swing and I was just learning how to dance.”

Lou, originally from North Dakota, was 20 and stationed at Larson Air Force Base in Moses Lake. He’d joined the Air Force out of high school and was trained as a missile system analyst for the Titan 1, the United States’ first multistage intercontinental ballistic missile.

He ended up at Playland that evening thanks to another girl.

“There was this girl from North Dakota chasing him,” Donna said.

Lou shrugged.

“I said goodbye to her and put her on the 6 p.m. bus and two hours later I met Donna.”

By the end of the evening, he had her address and phone number.

The following weekend he took her out for dinner and dancing.

“Dancing has always been a big part of our lives,” she said. “He taught me everything I know.”

Donna lived in the Yakima countryside in a big three-story house and one evening she stayed out with Lou to watch the sun come up.

That didn’t go over well with her father.

“Her dad was upset,” said Lou. “He ran me off the place.”

Back at the base, Lou sat down and wrote him a letter.

“I assured him we’d done nothing to be ashamed of and we really did watch the sun come up,” Lou said.

Donna nodded.

“That letter sold Dad.”

Lou was welcomed back with open arms and on Oct. 13, 1956, the couple wed at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Yakima.

“I knew his whole family was Catholic, so I started studying the faith and didn’t tell him,” Donna said.

The couple embarked on a series of moves with the Air Force. Over the next 10 years, Donna gave birth to six children: Douglas, Barbara, Steve, Teresa, Christina and Thomas.

She joined her husband even at temporary postings.

“I always went along,” she said. “I followed him to Germany with a toddler when I was 8½ months pregnant with our second child.”

Sometimes having his family with him meant quite a commute for Lou.

“When I was stationed at Grand Forks, North Dakota, they said not to bring my family because there was no place to stay, but I wasn’t leaving them behind,” he said. “I found a place in Oslo, Minnesota, 38 miles north of the base.”

While stationed in Alaska, Lou enrolled in college.

“I graduated with a degree in secondary education from the first class of the University of Alaska in Anchorage.”

After 20 years and two days in the Air Force, Lou retired in Spokane and planned to pursue a career in education.

“But I couldn’t raise six kids on that pay, so I decided to become a real estate broker,” he said.

He enjoyed a 23-year career in the business and for a time, Donna worked in the same office, after she received her real estate license.

The busy family wasn’t immune to sorrow. Their daughter Teresa died in a drowning accident as a teen.

“You never get over it,” said Lou.

They found comfort in each other and their faith.

For many years they were part of Marriage Encounter, a faith-based marriage enrichment program.

“Our marriage is based on faith, friendship and fidelity,” said Lou, 88. “My definition of love is the intermingling of two spirits. Two shall become one when you marry.”

In addition to their shared values, they share the same sense of fun. Even after 66 years of marriage, they still go dancing at the Eagles and regularly play bridge.

Since 1990, they’ve lived in a home on the banks of the Little Spokane River in Chattaroy. It’s been the setting of countless family gatherings that now extend to grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Donna, 84, reflected on the life she built with the handsome airman she met at Playland over six decades ago.

“One of the things I really love about him is his openness,” she said. “He’s affectionate and open about the way he cares for me.”

She smiled at Lou across their outdoor table.

“I can’t imagine living without him.”