Mildred and Roger Pemberton celebrate 30th anniversary

Mildred Peeples Grogan Pemberton and Roger Pemberton will soon celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary.

They met in 1986, when Roger accepted the position of jazz artist in residence at the University of South Carolina.

An Episcopalian, he joined the Church of the Good Shepherd in Columbia, where Mildred was a member. A year later, they became engaged and married on Oct. 23, 1987, at Good Shepherd, where they remain active members.

They like to celebrate their anniversaries that end in “5” or “0” all year long, so they are making their 30th a yearlong celebration with lots of trips. They cruised to the Bahamas, went to Hilton Head Island several times, and in June took a Caribbean cruise. In August, they had their biggest celebration, with a cruise to Havana, Cuba, where Mildred visited on her high school senior trip. She especially remembered the famous Tropicana nightclub, which is still going with beautiful shows, so that was a highlight of this 30th anniversary year. They took their anniversary picture on the way to the show. A mountain trip is planned in the fall, as well a trip to the Dominican Republic and Turks and Caicos in November. They’ll finish the year celebrating New Year’s Eve in Hilton Head.

Roger is distinguished professor emeritus at the USC School of Music, where he ran the jazz program and taught saxophone. Since his retirement, he has stayed busy playing in several concert bands in the Columbia area. Mildred is retired from the Richland Lexington District Five school system and enjoys her hobby of photography and, of course, her grandchildren.

In their 30 years of marriage, Mildred and Roger have traveled literally all over the world, visiting six of the seven continents -- all except Australia. When they aren’t away, they love spending time with their grandchildren.

Roger has two children, Nina (Chris) Clarizio of Bolingbrook, Illinois, and Nathan (Valerie) Pemberton of Littleton, Colorado.

Mildred has three sons: the late Patrick Grogan, Michael Grogan of Irmo and Christopher Grogan of Columbia.

They have two beautiful granddaughters, Lauren Michael Grogan and Ashley Grogan, both of Irmo.

“(We) thank the Lord for 30 years of wonderful marriage together and … for the gift of (our) precious children and grandchildren, as well as (our) family and friends,” Mildred writes. “Hopefully we can ‘keep calm and cruise on’ for many more years!”