Clayton and Beatrice Herb of Schuylkill Haven are the state winners of the Longest Married Couple Project, sponsored by Worldwide Marriage Encounter (WWME). The organization is a faith-based marriage enrichment program.

The Herbs have been married for almost eight decades."It is an honor to announce that Clayton and Beatrice are the Longest Married Couple in Pennsylvania for 2013," said Tony and Cathy Witczak of WWME. The couple will be honored by the Marriage Encounter organization on Sunday.According to the Pottsville Republican, Clayton, 97, and Beatrice, 93, were married on June 29, 1933, when he was 18 and she was 14 years old.They met in Schuylkill County, and after marrying in Hagerstown, Md., they returned to Pennsylvania, eventually moving to Hegins, where they owned a vegetable farm for 10 years.They had four children; a daughter and twin sons who died very young. Another son, Greg, was born in 1943. They have two grandchildren, four great-grandchildren and a great-great-grandson.The Herbs narrowly missed out on being the longest married couple in the United States.John and Ann Betar of Fairfield, Conn. were honored by the Worldwide Marriage Encounter Program at their home on Saturday for being named the longest married couple in the country. John, who is 101, and Ann, who is 97, have been married for 80 years.