Marblehead native Steve Tompkins was a recent graduate of the University of New Hampshire in the early 1960s when Carol Benner walked into Maddie’s Sail Loft with one of his fraternity brothers.
“Upstairs at Maddie’s wasn’t open back then,” Carol recalled of the evening when she accompanied her date to meet up with Steve and his friends. “They only had booths for seating in those days, so we all had to ‘squinch’ in.”
A native of Longmeadow, Carol was living on Fairfield Street in Boston, attending school at Boston University, and working at the drive-thru window at the First National Bank on Berkeley Street.
Steve was living in Marblehead, where his parents and grandparents grew up.
“We were both working in Boston. I recognized her from the bank where I’d go to cash my checks,” Steve said.
Carol recognized Steve from when he would say hello to her at the window as well.
“All these guys would come to the bank to cash their checks. We were wicked busy,” Carol said.
When the evening at Maddie’s came to an end, Carol couldn’t find her pocketbook, and recalled being mortified.
“I picked on her a little,” Steve said, remembering being a wise guy. “I hung her pocketbook up and she couldn’t find it.”
Less than a week later, Steve waited his turn at the bank window to ask Carol out for the next night.
“I said, ‘Sorry, I’m busy!’ You can’t ask someone out for the next night,” an exasperated Carol recalled. “I told him to ask me out sooner next time.”
Heeding her advice, Steve offered, “How about next week?”
The date was agreed upon, and the fraternity brother became a distant memory. More than 60 years later, the location and specific conversations surrounding Carol and Steve’s first date are somewhat elusive. What remains for both are crystal-clear images of a natural easiness, and an extraordinary amount of laughing.
“For us, it was a great decision. We were like best friends almost immediately. We were just so comfortable together,” Carol said.
Steve had been living in a Marblehead rental he called the Shanty at Gas House Beach.
“It was a little house, one room, and literally a gas house. I was paying $20 per month, and I remember they raised it to $50 per month,” Steve said.
After marrying in March 1963, the newlyweds moved into the first floor of 2 Washington St. in Marblehead, where two of their three children were born.
The couple then built a house in Magnolia to be close to the family business Steve’s father started in 1902, Tompkins Furniture. With locations in Salem, Beverly, Danvers, and Gloucester, the business was thriving.
Steve and Carol eventually moved back to their current Marblehead home in 1969, and alongside their children, worked in the business, a true family affair, until the last two stores closed in 2006.
This March will mark Steve and Carol’s 61st anniversary.
“We still laugh all the time. We always manage to find something amusing,” Carol said.
With three grown children and six grandchildren, they remain grateful for the closeness of their extended family, and that cozy booth at Maddie’s.
Leslie Martini is a freelance writer and children’s book author. Though she and her family have lived in Marblehead for more than 26 years, Leslie is still discovering countless untold stories. If you’d like to share your story, please contact leslie@marbleheadweeklynews.com.