World’s Oldest Pen Pals Turn 100

The world’s oldest pen pals have both turned 100 years old, and are celebrating 80 years of letters sent across the pond.

Geoff Banks from Devon, England, and American Celesta Byrne from New Jersey started writing to each other in 1938 when they were 16-years-old.

They were paired by an educational project that sought to connect British and American students—and 84 years later are still corresponding.

Geoff even kept in touch during World War II, while serving as a mechanic on the British aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious in the Pacific.

They began using email a while back, to give Geoff a break from putting pen to paper, which became difficult—and recently they had their first Zoom call

Despite having chatted for decades (6 years longer than the current Guinness World record pen-pal relationship of 78 years), the pair only met for the first time in 2002—when Geoff visited New York City at 80 years old for Christmas.

They also met for a second time two years later, when Celesta invited him to her New Jersey home for lunch.

Despite having such a unique relationship, the pair never became romantic, even after Geoff’s wife passed eleven years ago.

Nowadays, Geoff relies on young people to assist him in setting up a chat with her, using “this new thing called Zoom”.

Celesta does the same from her new residence in Texas, where she moved to be close to family.

Categorised in: Good News

This post was written by Cheryl Johnstone