High School Sweethearts Start a New Chapter at Fox Run

As Diane and Jim Panzone approach their 50th wedding anniversary their romance has been steeped in a lifelong, shared passion for life.

It has taken them together from high school classrooms to dance floors and from athletic courts to politics.

Moreover, their romance has seemingly made time stand still, even as it now enters a new chapter at Fox Run retirement community in Novi, MI.

They met as high school students in Detroit, MI, and began dating. Jim took Diane to the senior prom, which turned out to be the first of many proms they would attend together.

Diane and Jim married and each become teachers. They worked together at the same high school. Diane taught English and economics, and Jim taught government. The couple volunteered each year as chaperones at the senior prom.

“When Jim took me to our senior prom, he thought it was last one,” Diane jokes.

At age 50, Diane and Jim retired. They traveled a bit, and then began spending winters in Florida near Fort Meyers. They couple also began country line dancing. They joined a dancing club in Florida and formed many long-lasting friendships with their fellow dancers.

Diane and Jim moved two months ago from a condo in Warren, MI, to Fox Run. The first thing they did together was to install a full wall of built-in bookshelves in their new apartment home to help them keep up with their shared interest in reading.

They continue to do things together, whether it is participating in volleyball games or engaging in political committee discussions. And they travel back to Florida during the winter months to rekindle friendships there.

Their “snowbird lifestyle” seems to have taken new root in their new retirement locale. So has their love for one another.

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Caption for above photo: High school sweethearts Diane and Jim Panzone have begun their next life adventure together at Fox Run in Novi, MI (photo by Lindsay Ash).

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