Couple Finds 49-Year Marriage Was Never Official

September 29, 2009 1:56 p.m. EST

Wilmore, PA (AHN) - Frank and Betty Skrout were married on Oct. 6, 1960-or so they thought. The couple recently discovered that their wedding was never made official in the eyes of the law.

The couple was looking for documents for Betty Skrout's pension plan when they found their "return of marriage" document had never been filed by Rev. James Feehley after their wedding at St. Bartholomew Catholic Church, The Tribune Democrat, of Johnstown, Pa., reported.

The Cambria County official in charge of the records, Patty Sharbaugh, said she would file the necessary paperwork and backdate it to the wedding date, if the right form can be found.

The Altoona-Johnstown Catholic Diocese has officials looking for the documents to make the marriage official, 49 years later, the Democrat reported.

In the mean time, Frank Skrout joked that he'd been living in sin for 49 years with a woman he thought was his wife.