Celebraing 70 Years Together: Milan and Antonia

Intermountain Catholic

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In a photo taken for their 60th wedding anniversary, Milan and Antonia Corak's smiles reveal decades of happiness amid the struggles. photo courtesy of Lynda Robinson

SALT LAKE CITY – At 92 years old, Milan Corak still giggles when he talks about how he met his wife of 70 years, Antonia, 93.

"I had driven my new used car to a Saturday night dance. Antonia was there, but we were not together. I’d gone inside to get a drink, and when I got back, I noticed there was a definite ‘buttmark’ in the dust on the hood of the car.

"I asked around to see who had been sitting on the hood of my car while I was gone, and people pointed to her."

It was love at first sight for Milan (pronounced: Mile-an).

"I was dancing with Milan’s brother," Antonia said. "We were at an outdoor dance hall in Sweet, a mining town about 18 miles out of Price. The next Saturday night dance, Milan and I went together, that was when we started going together."

They dated for 17 months.

They were married Nov. 22, 1936, in Notre Dame de Lourdes Parish Church in Price by then-pastor Father (later Msgr.) William Ruel.

"We’d have gotten married sooner, but we had to wait until payday," Milan said.

"It was a small wedding, mostly comprised of family members, and we danced all night to accordion music," Antonia said.

The newlyweds lived in a two-room miner’s shack in Sweet for the first 18 months of their marriage. Their shack didn’t have indoor plumbing or running water. Their first child, Lynda Le (now Lynda Robinson) was born in January 1938. They would wait 10 years for the birth of their second and last child, also a girl, whom they named Mila Le (now Mila Le Mitchell). By then, the family had moved, first to a four-room house in Hiawatha, then to Price.

"Milan learned carpentry fast from my father," Antonia said. "Pretty soon, he could fix anything, and he had to fix a lot of things in the houses we lived in."

But it would be the coalmines of Carbon County where Milan would spend 33 years of his life, and it would give him black lung disease, with which he struggles now.

The Coraks share an Eastern European heritage. Milan and his brother were drawn to Utah by the coal mining, as were Antonia’s family.

When the mines went down due to labor disputes or closures, Milan would sign on with a local retailer as a security guard or haul dirt or do electrical work.

"Dad always had a natural ability for mechanical things," Robinson said. "He’s also had 59 years of fishing and hunting."

"But I always wanted to go back to mining," he said. "I’d do it now if I could."

The family had moved to Salt Lake City in 1961, and health concerns forced Milan to retire in 1978.

Antonia worked a series of jobs for Sperry’s and J.C. Penney, and she worked in the administrative offices for K-Mart until she retired in 1988.

The Coraks share a wealth of memories. Robinson recalls her parents taking in boarders during World War II, and then watching those boarders get drafted.

"We used to listen to Teddy Roosevelt on the radio, and of course, we spent long hours reading," said Antonia. "I remember when we bought the first really new car we ever had."

Travel has always been a favorite pastime for the Coraks. They’ve visited most of the Eastern United States and Alaska twice. In 1973, Milan traveled to Europe to visit his family, and in 1975, Milan and Antonia went to Europe together, rented a car, and drove through seven countries.

"We were probably rich then," Milan said. "At least everyone in Croatia and Yugoslavia thought we were."

"We visited both our parents’ homes," Antonia recalled. "We visited with all the relations and cousins we could find, then we went to Italy, Germany, France, and Switzerland. We had the most fun."

The hard mining life has taken its toll on Milan. He has survived a mine collapse and having a mine car fall on him when he was working as a mechanic. Today, Milan is a resident at CHRISTUS St. Joseph Villa, where Antonia visits him daily.

"I’m so fortunate to have him still," she said. "He is the only one of seven boys in his family left."