Police Help Celebrate 65-Year Love Story With Squad Car Surprise

ALGONQUIN, IL — The Algonquin Police Department played a starring role in a real-life love story this month, helping longtime residents Bill and Vivien celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary in a way that brought their romance full circle.

The department’s connection to the couple goes back decades — when they took part in a playful wedding-day “arrest” outside the First Congregational Church in Algonquin — and resurfaced in a modern re-enactment that delighted Bill, Vivien and their whole family.

Bill and Vivien first met years before their March 12, 1961 wedding, according to a recent post on the Algonquin Facebook page.

Vivien worked at her parents’ quaint café, Schumann’s Epicurean, located where the Cornish Park clock tower now stands. Bill rode along with his father, a dairy delivery driver for the Wisconsin Cheese Company, who delivered to the café, and met Vivien.

"The next visit, Bill’s father informed them that Bill was leaving for the Navy. Vivien offered to write him a letter, and their relationship blossomed as pen pals," according to the Facebook post. "The rest is history."

After they became engaged, the Algonquin Chief of Police — a frequent diner at the café — joked that he might have to “arrest” Bill at the wedding because Vivien was such a catch, according to the Facebook post.

On the day of the wedding, the couple stepped outside to find a squad car waiting.

Sixty-five years later, the family gathered at Galati’s in Cary on March 14 to celebrate.

Their daughter, Karla Spence, coordinated with the Algonquin Police Department so that Sgt. Timothy Wilkin, under the direction of Chief Dennis Walker, could surprise Bill and Vivien with a modern squad car to recreate that playful wedding-day tradition, according to the Facebook post.

The police department delivered, allowing the happy couple to pose in a squad car again on their 65th wedding anniversary.

More photos and videos can be found on the Algonquin Police Department Facebook page.