Bay Area music couple Pete and Juanita Escovedo have celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary with a family gathering attended by about 130 relatives and friends in Walnut Creek, California.
The couple marked the milestone on 21 October, with guests travelling from across the United States, including Georgia, Texas and Los Angeles, to honour the pair and their long marriage.
Pete Escovedo, the 91-year-old Latin jazz percussionist, and Juanita, 89, were also surprised with a video of anniversary messages from well-known musicians and entertainers, arranged by their daughter Sheila E.
Among those sending their best wishes were Snoop Dogg and Gloria Estefan. “She has this whole video of tons of celebrities wishing Moms and Pops a happy anniversary,” said the couple’s youngest daughter, Zina Escovedo.
From Oakland schooldays to seven decades of marriage
Pete and Juanita first met while growing up in Oakland. They knew each other from middle school before beginning a relationship when Juanita attended Oakland Technical High School and Pete was a pupil at McClymonds High.
Juanita recalled being struck by Pete when she first saw him, remembering his white shirt, brown jacket, brown trousers and brown suede shoes. Pete, meanwhile, joked that he had been “cool” and said: “One look at her, and stole my heart away.”
They married soon after leaving school. Juanita was 19 and Pete was 21, but the relationship initially required both families to overcome differences in their cultural backgrounds.
Pete’s family came from Mexico, while Juanita’s family had roots in New Orleans and identified as Creole. Juanita said her mother expected Pete to ask her father for permission to marry her — a prospect Pete later described as “the scariest day of my life”.
Sheila E, a Grammy Award-winning musician, was among the four children the couple raised. Their other children are Peter, Juan and Zina, and the family has grown to include 12 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren, with another great-grandchild on the way.
The Escovedos’ secret to a 70th wedding anniversary
Juanita said the couple’s longevity had not come from an easy formula. Instead, she said, marriage required communication, laughter and a willingness to keep working through difficult periods.
“It just takes work. You have to talk to each other. You have to do a lot of laughing,” she said.
The early years were financially challenging as Pete pursued a career in music. Juanita recalled relying on food parcels and using bricks as makeshift table tops while the family struggled to make ends meet.
Despite those hardships, she said the couple continued to support one another. Pete has previously credited Juanita with standing by him when her father disapproved of his decision to become a musician.
Music became a central part of family life, with all four children pursuing careers in the industry. Pete said their shared profession helped keep the family close, allowing them to support one another and travel together.
Zina said her parents’ home was shaped by faith, prayer and humour. She recalled that Pete sometimes joked their marriage had lasted so long because he spent much of his career on tour and was not at home every day.
For Juanita, the couple’s fans also played an important role in helping the family through the years. She said Pete had always wanted them to remain together, care for their children and build a life as best they could.
The pair acknowledged that their marriage had faced mistakes and setbacks, but said they had chosen to work through the difficult periods rather than allow their relationship to drift apart.
“Because we stayed together, and we worked through the hard parts of our lives and got through it all,” Pete said. “We started here in Oakland. And, you know, it was a very, very hard beginning.”
After seven decades together, the couple’s anniversary celebration brought their musical family and friends together to recognise a relationship that began in Oakland schooldays and endured through hardship, touring and the changing fortunes of a life in music.
