1960s Computer Dating Service Leads to 59-Year Marriage

In 1966, Bob Weatherford, a junior at the University of Virginia, broke up with his high school sweetheart. He was looking for a steady girlfriend and didn't fit into the party scene that dominated campus life.

About 60 miles away in Harrisonburg, Virginia, Lori Godfrey studied at James Madison University, an all-women's school. She was on the fencing team and dating someone at the time.

Fate intervened when they met through Operation Match, a computerized dating service that launched in 1965 using an IBM mainframe computer to match college students based on questionnaire responses.

The Weatherfords celebrated their 59th wedding anniversary this month. They were among the first couples matched by Operation Match's founders, Jeff Tarr and Vaughan Morrill from Harvard, and Douglas Ginsburg, a Cornell dropout.