“Earth Angel, Earth Angel, will you be mine?”
The query, posed within the 1954 hit by The Penguins, discovered its reply in 1969 when Walter Saulsberry met Lillie—who mentioned “sure” and by no means left his aspect.
The previous member of the long-lasting Nineteen Fifties vocal group, The Penguins — greatest recognized for his or her timeless hit “Earth Angel,” produced by Dootsie Williams — not too long ago celebrated his and his spouse Lillie’s 86th birthdays and their fifty fifth wedding ceremony anniversary at a shock household gathering in South Los Angeles.
The 2 met in 1969 after being launched by Lillie’s son.
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“He advised Walter, ‘You wish to meet my mother? She’s fairly,’” Lillie recalled. “We met, we talked, and we’ve been married ever since.”
Lillie, a graduate of Jefferson Excessive Faculty, labored in aerospace for 25 years.
“I had authorities clearance. They test every little thing,” she mentioned. “It was the most effective job I ever had.”
Walter, in the meantime, spent a lot of his life on the highway with The Penguins, performing the chart-topping ballad that’s since change into part of American music historical past.
“We have been abroad half the time,” he mentioned. “Folks nonetheless sing “Earth Angel.” Folks acknowledge it in every single place.”
The Saulsberrys have a blended household of six sons: Vincent Saulsberry, Dwain Saulsberry, Arnold Saulsberry, Brian Saulsberry, Duke Anthony Man, and Michael Angelo Saulsberry.
Collectively, Walter and Lillie raised two sons of their South Los Angeles house. Considered one of them, Duke Anthony Man, handed away as a younger man.
“Should you ever needed to satisfy a candy particular person, my son Duke was him,” Lillie mentioned. She remembered him as a form and mild soul.
Their youthful son, Michael Angelo Saulsberry, adopted in his father’s musical footsteps. After graduating from Washington Excessive Faculty, he signed with Capitol Data as a member of the hip-hop vocal quartet Portrait, releasing the hit “Right here We Go Once more” in 1992.
“We thought he’d be a basketball participant,” Lillie mentioned. “However he cherished music.”
“It felt actually good to see that,” Walter added, happy that his son adopted in his musical footsteps.
Their fifty fifth anniversary celebration introduced collectively kinfolk from throughout the nation, together with longtime household pal Lea Reis, who mentioned Lillie “adopted me as a daughter” after assembly her as a teen within the Nineteen Eighties.
Now each 86, the Saulsberrys stay rooted in the identical home they’ve lived in for greater than six a long time.
When requested about the important thing to an enduring marriage, Walter proudly said, “Do the correct factor. Deal with folks how they need to be handled. Love. Pleasure. Happiness.”
