John T. and Nancy Ellen Rice O’Leary of Wheeling are celebrating their 45th wedding anniversary today, July 24.

They were united in marriage July 24, 1971, at St. Michael Catholic Church, Wheeling. The Rev. Frank R. Haig, S.J., then president of Wheeling Jesuit University, officiated the double-ring ceremony. After the nuptial Mass, he imparted a papal blessing, which had been granted by Pope Paul VI.

Nancy Ellen O’Leary is the daughter of the late Frank L. and Mary Ellen Voellinger Rice of Wheeling. She is a graduate of Mount de Chantal Visitation Academy, Wheeling Jesuit University and West Virginia University. She is a former elementary teacher in Ohio County Schools and a past president of the Junior League of Wheeling, Woman’s Club of Wheeling, Northern District of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs-West Virginia and other civic and educational organizations. She is a member of the auxiliary of Wheeling Hospital, St. Michael’s Christian Mothers and the Serra Club of Wheeling.

John T. O’Leary is the son of the late John P. and Rita Andrews O’Leary of Steubenville. He is a graduate of Steubenville Catholic Central High School, Wheeling Jesuit University and West Virginia University. He is retired from a position as a systems analyst for the informational services department of the former Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corp. He is the past president of the Serra Club of Wheeling. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus and past chairman of the Knights’ Carroll Council 504’s golf club.

They are members of St. Michael Catholic Church, Wheeling, where she is a lector and he is an extraordinary minister of the Eucharist.

A celebratory dinner will be hosted by Ann Weir Coleman, Nancy Ellen O’Leary’s cousin and maid of honor. The couple also will celebrate at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs.