In 1936, Meriom Shaich was studying fashion at the Central High School of Needle Trades in New York, when she met Howard Kastner.

"It wasn't love at first sight — I was a Midwestern girl raised in Montana, and Howard was from Vienna. He was a foreigner so I didn't like him at first, but I grew to love him," she says.

Meriom and Howard Kastner were married for 63 years and have four children, six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Howard died six years ago, but not before the city of Santa Fe honored the couple as Living Treasures. Together, the Kastners worked to enhance the local museum scene as patrons and docents.

Meriom and Howard moved to Santa Fe in 1984 because of their love of the theater. "At the time, the theater scene was really exciting. Howard got on the Greer Garson Theatre Guild board, and we spent our time going to local theatrical productions all over town," Meriom says.

In addition to Santa Fe's cultural ambience, the Kastners liked the fact that skiing opportunities were close by. As the 91-year-old says, "With winter skiing just 20 minutes away, the large cultural mix of people employed by the military, and the art scene, Santa Fe was the perfect place to retire."

These days Meriom's project in life is CASA, or Court Appointed Special Advocates, which focuses on youth in the court system. "It breaks my heart. These kids are brought to the judicial system with no one to help them. Most of them are homeless, and have to carry their belongings in a grocery bag. They go from foster home to foster home with their life's belonging's in a plastic bag. So now I spend my time collecting cloth bags and getting donations of toiletries and other necessities," she says.

The Kastners lived in Munich for 11 years and one year in Switzerland while Howard Kastner worked as a business consultant with Meriom helping out. "I was the best Girl Friday ever — I made the coffee, I listened to complaining clients over the phone, I did everything no one else wanted to do," Meriom recalls.

Meriom Kastner was born in Minneapolis in 1918 and raised in Montana. She moved with her parents to New Jersey in 1935. Since her husband's death, she has kept busy working as a museum volunteer. She has also arranged several trips for the Friends of the Palace. She no longer does as much traveling as she did when her husband was alive, but continues to stay in touch with her extended family. As she says, "Thank God for the telephone."

In addition to working with CASA, Kastner is a docent at the New Mexico Museum of Art and at the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. Looking back, Kastner says, "I must be having a hell of a lot of fun because life is going so fast."

Ana Pacheco is at work on the city of Santa Fe's 400th Anniversary Commemorative issue that will be published in The New Mexican on Feb. 7. Her weekly tribute to our community elders appears Sundays. She can be reached at 505-474-2800.