Women have been known to always sacrifice their lives and careers for the sake of their families- raising kids and catering to husbands. Among these, there are those whose sacrifice paid off, while for some, it didn’t.
Marie De Narde spent 49 years of her marital life helping her husband, Jack Lord become a better version of himself. Moreover, she gave up her career as a fashion designer to aid him in becoming an incredible actor on TV, on film, and on Broadway.
She got married to the actor in 1949 and remained his wife until his death in 1998. Seven years after his death, De Narde passed away in 2005 at the age of 100.
Marie De Narde’s Background
On 16th August 1905, she was born to her Italian parents, Gennaro Cepparulo and Elsie DeNarde Cepparulo in St. Louis, Missouri. She grew up alongside her two brothers, Silvius Andrew born 3 years before her, and Alfred Florian born 2 years after her.
Her father was in the business of manufacturing artificial flowers for various purposes, ranging from weddings to floral arrangements. According to reports, her father mastered the art from her grandfather and great-grandfather in Italy. In order to expand, he relocated to the United States, where he raised his family and his business blossomed.
After her high education, she moved to France in 1923 to study fashion design and art. 4 years later, she rounded up her studies and returned back to the US. Initially, she was using her father’s surname “Cepparulo”, but she legally switched to her mother’s “DeNarde” immediately after her return from France.
Later on, she launched her career as a fashion designer in New York City, where she reportedly built a personal house. It was here that she would cross paths with the young Jack Lord who would go on to become her husband, and also the man she quit her career for.
Her Marriage to Jack Lord
De Narde tied the knots with actor Jack Lord on 17th January 1949. Prior to the wedding, the pair first met after the actor reportedly tried to buy her house, but she turned down the offer. In order to make up for not answering his calls when he was trying to reach her, she agreed to meet him.
When they finally met, she realized he was a dashing young man and that ignited a desire in her. That meeting marked the beginning of a journey that took them to matrimony.
They moved into her house after getting married. Also, for all the years of their marriage, they only marked the day they first met rather than celebrate their wedding anniversary.
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She Never Had Any Children With Him
Throughout her marriage to the Hawaii Five-O actor, she didn’t share any children with him. Despite the lack of kids, the couples’ love didn’t go dry.
According to reports, the pair made an agreement to focus on building Jack Lord’s career than having children earlier in the marriage. After her husband’s career became successful, they decided it was time to have kids, but that didn’t happen. Moreover, she was said to have had a miscarriage, however, there is no confirmation about it.
While she didn’t bear any child of her own, her husband on the other had a child from his previous marriage. He was first married to Ann Willard in 1942, and later that year had a son, John Joseph Ryan on 1st December 1942. They got divorced in 1946. However, there are reporters indicating that the wedding took place in 1944 and the divorce in 1947.
Interestingly, De Narde’s husband gets to meet his son with his first wife only once when the child was still a baby. Moreover, he died from hepatitis on 24th August 1955 at the age of 12. Lord didn’t know about it until a copy of his son’s death certificate was sent to him by his ex-wife.
Marie De Narde Passed Away At 100
Dying at 100 means one has lived a fulfilled life, and not so many have lived this long. The same can be said of De Narde who died on 13th October 2005 in Honolulu, Hawaii at the age of 100.
Meanwhile, her husband, Jack Lord died 7 years earlier on 21st January 1998 at the age of 77. In the last 7 years leading to his death, he reportedly suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, although other reports indicated he had the disease as far back as 1979.
Although it is not clear what causes De Narde’s death, that of her husband has been attributed to congestive heart failure.
Checks These Facts No One Told You About Her
1. She Was 15 Years Older Than Her Husband
As earlier mentioned she was born on 16th August 1905, while her husband was born on 30th December 1920. Moving forward, there is a 15 years age gap between him and her. By the time, they got married, she was nearly 44, while Lord was almost 29.
2. How Did She Sacrifice Her Career For Her Husband?
When she met him, he was still struggling to build a life, but when she married him, everything changed. It changed because she put in a lot of hard work and sacrifice to see his career blossom. She did that by sacrificing a career (Fashion Design) that she is good at and making money from.
Moreso, she schooled him on how to manage his business (career), control his temper, and made the home warm for him. In fact, she was credited with making the costumes he used to build his character Steve McGarrett in Hawaii Five-O.
3. What Happened To Her Wealth After She Died?
When her husband passed away, reports revealed that he left an estate worth $40 million. Since both of them have known to be charitable people, the whole estate was donated to Hawaiian charities when she died in 2005.
4. Her Parents Died Before The 1940s
De Narde’s father and mother in the late 1920s and late 1930s respectively. Her father, Gennaro Cepparulo died on 28th September 1928 as a result of double pneumonia. Almost a decade later, her mother, Elsie DeNarde Cepparulo died of unknown causes on the 7th of January 1938.
3. She Was A Fantastic Cook
Apart from her fashion design skills, she was an extraordinary cook. She knew how to prepare meals from different countries of the world from French to Italian dishes, and Jewish to Asian. Although, it wasn’t how, when, or where she learned about the dishes, she claimed her knowledge of Italian dishes came from Frank Sinatra.
