It may not have been the kind of 50th anniversary most couples envision, but an adults-only trip to Las Vegas in August — with a ceremony officiated by an Elvis impersonator who serenaded them with "Hound Dog" — was the right way to celebrate for George Stott and Mary Lou Dempf of Kailua.

"I loved it," gushed Dempf, 73. "That was the best way to do it ... That kind of summed up our 50 years!"

Both Stott and Dempf grew up in the Washington, D.C., area. They met in 1953. He was attending the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.; she was majoring in education at the University of Maryland.

During Exchange Week in Annapolis, Stott went to nearby West Point and stayed with a friend. Dempf visited West Point to meet the roommate of Stott's friend on a blind date.

"He was nice," Dempf said, smiling, "but I liked (George) better."

Stott fit Dempf's criteria for a husband: he was nice, college-educated and Catholic. But his eyes won Dempf over.

"I remember seeing his eyes," she said. "I knew I wanted our children to have those eyes."

Stott was smitten, too.

"She was very attractive," said Stott, 73. "She looked like Elizabeth Taylor."

They dated, talking about getting married when they both graduated in 1955. Then they changed their minds. Still young, they wanted to explore the world before making that commitment.

Stott left for San Diego as a naval officer; Dempf took a job as a flight attendant stationed in Dallas. For a year they kept in touch and visited each other when they could. Then Stott received an ultimatum.

On his way to Mare Island, he got a call from Dempf, who was also heading to San Francisco. She said she wasn't going to meet him unless he was planning to propose. "I wasn't going to waste any more time," Dempf said.

Without a ring, Stott asked for her hand in marriage. Dempf said yes and soon quit her job with the airline and moved back to Washington, where she and her mom started planning the wedding.

They married on Aug. 4, 1956, at St. Peter's Church in Washington, with a reception for 300 guests at the Ambassador Hotel, and honeymooned in a cottage in North Beach, Md., for a week before driving cross-country to Long Beach, Calif.

The couple now had new challenges. For starters, Dempf didn't want to ditch her career to be an officer's wife full time. She found it difficult to juggle her career as a teacher — which included grading papers at home at night — with cooking and housework.

"I was raised a princess," Dempf joked.

But Stott supported his bride's ambitions. "She worked long before it was fashionable for women to work," he said in admiration.

Over the next two decades, the couple lived all over the country, from San Diego to Pascagoula, Miss., to Idaho Falls, Idaho.

In 1963, after finding out Dempf couldn't have children, the couple adopted their first child, Mike. A year later they adopted daughter Helen. Three years later, they got the surprise of their lives: Dempf was pregnant. Tracey was born in 1966.

The next year the family was stationed on O'ahu. They fell in love with the Islands.

After living in Kailua for a few years, they moved back to the Mainland. They returned to O'ahu in 1971, this time for good.

Dempf enrolled at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa to pursue a master's degree in social work. She graduated in 1972.

Stott retired from the Navy in 1975 and earned his MBA from UH the next year. Not long after, he started Stott Real Estate Inc. A lot of his business came from military families looking for housing in Hawai'i.

Dempf, who had been successful in organizing womenfocused seminars, soon joined the family business.

"Sometimes it's great and sometimes it's horrible," joked Dempf about working with her husband for nearly 30 years.

They say their differences are their strengths: Stott is a great listener and manager; Dempf has a dynamic personality and a knack for connecting with people.

"We're yin and yang," Dempf said.

Today, their children Mike and Tracey and their children's spouses make up The Stott Team, which operates out of its offices in Kailua.

The couple, who still live in Kailua, love to spend time with their seven grandchildren and two dogs: Coco, a 14-year-old Labrador; and Nubuk, a 1-year-old Rhodesian Ridgeback.

Married for half a century, they've learned a lot of lessons along the way.

(Stott joked that he wakes up every morning and says, "I'm sorry," just to start the day off on the right foot.)

The one lesson they've found particularly valuable was knowing which battles to choose. "There are some things worth fighting for," Dempf said. "Others aren't."

After more than 50 years together, some things have changed — namely their waistlines and hair color. But they have no complaints.

"We've aged, but that's OK," Dempf said, smiling. "I don't mind getting older. I used to know everything. Now I don't know anything. It's great."

Reach Catherine E. Toth at ctoth@honoluluadvertiser.com.