While taking classes at Boston University, Judy Dufresne, of Shrewsbury, met Bonnie Freedson, who was from Marblehead. The two found an apartment in Boston and became the best of friends, often spending time at Bonnie’s parents’ Marblehead home for rest and relaxation, Judy recalled.
“We’d go to the beach, do our laundry, and get dressed to have dinner at Kernwood Country Club or the General Glover before heading back into Boston.”
After graduating from the University of Massachusetts in the spring of 1967, 23-year-old Bruce Krasker was preparing to start his next chapter at Suffolk University Law School. Once in Boston, he was eager to reconnect with his close family connection, the cousin he grew up with in Marblehead.
“I dropped in to see Bonnie,” Bruce smiled. “And she had a roommate.”
Bruce and Judy hit it off immediately, but neither considered dating the other. Instead, they developed a deep, intimate friendship in the months and years that followed.
“One of the first times I took her out, we went to Burger King and split a Whopper,” Bruce recounted.
“He was a poor student,” Judy said. “And I was going out with guys who had money.”
In between Bruce’s studying, and Judy’s work as a flight attendant for American Airlines, the two often sought refuge from city life in the quiet calm of the North Shore — in Bruce’s hometown, a place Judy had come to love.
In December of 1969, Bruce offered to drive Judy to the airport to catch her flight to Florida for the holidays.
“I saw everybody kissing everybody goodbye, and I just decided to kiss her,” he recalled of his spontaneity.
While in Florida, Judy began realizing the relationship’s change in status when she found herself telling her mother about “Bonnie’s cousin,” Bruce.
The pair started dating when Judy returned, and in April, while on a walk at Walden Pond, Bruce surprised Judy by asking her to marry him.
“He didn’t even have a ring!” she laughed.
“We were an absolute match because I had $2,000 in debt and she had $2,000 in the bank,” Bruce mused.
“He obviously married me for my money, not just because he needed my height and my hair in the genes,” Judy laughed.
Judy and Bruce were married on July 4, 1970 — Bruce’s birthday. On their wedding night, Bruce promised Judy that he’d show her “the tinsel and the glitter,” she said. “I thought we were going to Miami Beach!”
Bruce finished law school, passed the bar, and was to start his new job in September, so the “official” honeymoon was “drinking champagne on Preston Beach,” Bruce chuckled.
Bruce’s stellar career with the U.S. government (roles that included serving as the first environmental lawyer for the Department of Defense), didn’t take them to Miami Beach. Instead, the Kraskers went from their studio apartment in Beacon Hill to Washington, D.C., where their daughter was born, to Maryland, Virginia, Michigan, Wiesbaden, Germany, and finally back to the familiar haven of the North Shore, where they have lived since 1992.
Judy reminisces frequently about the many moves.
“I married someone who lived in the prettiest town, Marblehead, and he took me to D.C.!”
Judy and Bruce proudly take stock of their 53-year marriage and the life they have built in Marblehead alongside their daughter, son-in-law, and two granddaughters.
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.