02/15/08 — Valentine’s Day 2008 is a day John McElroy will remember forever. It was the day Chenoa O’Brien became his wife.

In early December, McElroy appeared before Crawford County Court of Common Pleas Judge John Spataro requesting that O’Brien, his fiancee of more than two years, be allowed to apply for a marriage license via videoconference instead of in person, as required by law. The trip to court was necessary because officials at Cambridge Springs State Correctional Institution, where O’Brien is incarcerated, had refused to transport her to the Crawford County Courthouse to apply in person. According to court records, the request was denied because of security concerns.

When O’Brien suggested a teleconference appearance, the office of the Clerk of the Courts refused to participate without a court order. On Dec. 7, Spataro granted McElroy’s request. Thursday, rings were finally exchanged.

The Rev. Stephanie Gottschalk, pastor of First United Methodist Church of Cambridge Springs and New Richmond United Methodist Church, officiated.

“It’s nice to be part of a wedding where the focus was really on being together and the love that would not let anything get in its way, rather than the focus being on all the other sort of things,” Gottschalk said as the families of the bride and groom gathered at Chovy’s in Vernon Township for a post-wedding celebration. “It was truly about love and redemption and hope — it was really very special regardless of where it was.”

The 24-year-old bride wasn’t able to participate in the reception, but she was very much part of the wedding, which took place earlier in the day at the prison.

“When the ceremony began, it was as if the walls disappeared,” McElroy, 49, recalled with a gentle smile. “The fence disappeared. It was a ceremony like anybody else would have.”

The pastor introduced herself, inviting Christ into the situation, he continued. “There’s a part where she asks the cooperation of the family involved in terms of do they support the whole matter. They answered they did.”

Then there was a reading. “Chenoa and I chose the reading because it captured the words that ‘If God was for us, who can be against us? Who can separate us from the love of Christ?,’ ” McElroy said. “Not only who can separate us from the love of Christ — but who can separate us from the love of each other? Can a fence? No. Can the world? No. Can trials and tribulations? No. Can turmoil and strife? No. Can principalities and powers? No, as the scripture goes. That was what we were able to overcome.”

After sharing their vows, the rings were blessed “and we put them on each others’ hands, just like anyone else would,” he said.

When McElroy first approached Gottschalk about performing the ceremony, she was skeptical.

“After a visit one Sunday, I came down the hill, made a right-hand turn and saw the doors open in the church,” he recalled. “I’ve always liked the Methodist approach to Christianity, so I walked I and introduced myself. “I said, ‘Have you been reading about this guy in The Meadville Tribune who wants to get married? I’m him.’ ”

Gottschalk was surprised, but, she recalled, she tried to keep an open mind. “I met with John and then with Chenoa. We had an original meeting before I agreed to do the wedding and the prison allowed some pre-marital counseling sessions,” she continued. “It was wonderful to see that they are the real thing. They are two real people who love each other and wanted to have a religious ceremony. They didn’t have to do any of this.

“It’s the real thing,” she stressed. “It can look like something else on the surface, but they are two people who love each other and want to start a new life together. It’s what you hope for to come out of life’s difficulties. I felt very good to be part of that.”

Gottschalk and O’Brien agree that everyone at the prison went above and beyond. “The prison was very, very cooperative and helpful,” Gottschalk said. “They were very respectful, helpful and accommodating throughout.”

O’Brien was sentenced to serve a minimum of 16 months for involuntary manslaughter following an accident in which her 3-year-old daughter died. She will have completed the 16 months on Oct. 10. “She lives with it every day — and she’ll live with it for the rest of her life,” McElroy said of the crash. “She’s sorry. She’s remorseful.”

McElroy encounters the question, “Why not just wait until she gets released?” all the time.

“We had planned on getting married prior to her incarceration — and I sure as heck know we would have been married afterward — after she got out,” he explained. “I just thought it was too important to wait. I wanted to express this commitment now. In contract form. In formal marriage. If — please God — she’s paroled, there’s no question about where she’s going. She’s coming home. With her husband.”

Until that day comes, he’ll continue to drive seven hours to Cambridge Springs from his Cochranville home — southwest of Philadelphia near the Maryland border — every other weekend.