Tatsuo Sasaki and Mary Shennum were married at a city park in Watonga on Thursday, October 3. They are 80 years old. They met when she was 21 and he was 22 when they played in a symphony orchestra; she played the bassoon while he played percussion, primarily timpani and marimba. They were engaged for four years, then moved on with their separate lives. They reconnected decades later and finally got married last week. While Tatsuo has been married, this is Mary's first marriage.
Mr. Sasaki is a worldrenowned marimba player. He was born in Japan and studied at the Tokyo University of Arts and Music and received a Fulbright scholarship to Julliard. He has played with symphony orchestras all over the world. including the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra and was the principal percussionist with San Diego Symphony and San Diego Opera until retirement in 2006. He continued to teach and perform, concentrating on marimba. His performance videos can be found on YouTube at saskimarimba.
They live in Texas and will reside in Amarillo after the marriage.
They came to the Lucky Star Casino hoping to get married there. Kristy Solansky with the Events staff helped them find a minister, which led to a phone call to local Vicki Williams, retired lawyer and current Universal Life Church minister here in Watonga.
She was happy to assist the couple and quickly asked Anita Woodruff and Devon Richardson to witness the ceremony. They are delighted to help people on their special day. They all enjoyed meeting Tatsuo and Mary, peppering them with questions about their lives and how they came to be getting married in Watonga, Oklahoma.
After having spent a legal career representing people in divorce and other family law matters as well as criminal defense, Vicki is thrilled to help people begin their lives together and is willing to tailor a ceremony especially for the couple.