If a love story like that of Win and Mira Reynolds were fiction, balladeers and poets would have celebrated it in song and verse. For who would believe the tale of their unlikely romance-an older American executive living in London, visiting Dubrovnik on business, where he met a beautiful, intelligent young woman. A first meeting that would lead to more than 50 years of love and devotion to one another.
Destiny. Fate. Kismet. Theirs is a love story like no other.
Mira Novoty was born in Dubrovnik, Croatia (Yugoslavia). In high school she was an outstanding athlete and became fluent in several languages. "As Win would say, 'Who in the world speaks Croatian?' So you have to learn foreign languages."
As a teenager in the early 1960s, Mira modeled in Dubrovnik and Zagreb. But "modeling is only good for a limited period of time. I needed a job." She majored in economics at the University of Zagreb and then worked at a travel agency in Dubrovnik, one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Croatian Riviera.
One of the international events held there was the Dubrovnik Summer Festival. "It was fantastic. All done outdoors, under the stars. Just magnificent,"
In 1970, Mira worked at the summer festival dealing with the artists and performers. "The Beatles were No. 1 in the world, but they were too expensive." Instead, she brought in the Tremeloes, the second most popular group in England.
At the dinner hosted in the group's honor was a "good looking gentleman," Mira remembers. "Grey hair. Tortoise rimmed glasses. I heard he came from London." She introduced herself to the man she assumed must be the Tremeloes' manager. "He gave such a laugh! 'Good God, no! I never even heard of them,' he told me. 'I'm here on business. I'm with American Express.' That was the first time I met him. That was Win."
Over the next few months, Win returned to Dubrovnik on business, each visit spending time with Mira. At his suggestion, she went to London for training at American Express. "He took me out for dinners, and we had nice weekends in the country, and that's how the whole thing started."
Winfield Kenneth Reynolds, she would learn, was born in Trenton, NJ. At 17, he enlisted in the Aviation Cadets in 1942, and served as a B-17 navigator with the 8th Air Force Bomber Group. After the war, Win returned to the states to attend the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Finance and the New Jersey Law School, part of Rutgers University.
Upon graduation, he began his career at American Express as an Overseas Executive Trainee. He was eventually promoted to VP and General Manager of Europe, Middle East, and Africa, before being transferred to the U.S. to head the company's Money Order Division (second only to the U.S. Post Office). In October 1968, he was elected President of Uni-Serv Corporation, a subsidiary of American Express.
Win and Mira had known each other for two years before they married in November 1972. "I never dreamt I would marry an American," Mira says, "but fate had a mind of her own."
While living in London, the couple traveled extensively in Europe. On weekends, Win would golf, a sport Mira did not know how to play. "Golf was not a popular sport in Yugoslavia," she recalls. She watched Win play "this silly game-chasing a little ball, trying to get it in a little hole. 'I don't know if you're going to like this game,' Win said, 'but I think you should give it a try.'"
Mira recalls her frustration learning to play. "I just hated it! Being newly married, I tried to please Win but it wasn't coming out. I've never experienced anything like it. But I persevered."
Win was transferred back to New York as Sr. VP of American Express Card Division, and the couple bought a home in Montclair, NJ. "I'm the young bride of an American Express executive. The first time in the United States and I had to find my way." After an unhappy experience playing at their Montclair Golf Club, Mira told Win she no longer wanted to play golf.
"He was heartbroken. I didn't want him to give up his golf because he loved it. I was determined to learn the rules and how to play. It was not going to defeat me!" Despite that rocky start, Mira was soon playing with a nine handicap.
Just when Mira felt comfortable in the states, Win agreed to move to Brazil to establish an American Express presence there. "He agreed to stay for two years. We stayed six," Mira says. "I'd never been to Rio de Janeiro. I didn't speak Portuguese. When you're young, you can do everything. If I were to do that today, I don't know how brave I would have been." Despite her concerns, "It was glorious. It was the last paradise on earth. We had the best fun of all times." She became so proficient in Portuguese that people thought she had been "born Brazilian."
The couple returned to England in 1981, where Win was Senior Officer of the [American Express] Card Division. They remained there another four years before returning to the states. At the age of 60, Win formally retired while continuing as to serve as Senior Advisor to the Vice Chairman of American Express.
In 1984, the couple sold their home in Boca Raton, Florida, their American base while they lived abroad, and moved to Pinehurst.
Throughout Win's lifelong career with American Express and into retirement, the couple traveled and golfed all over the world. "I don't think there are many people who do not have a bucket list," Mira explains. "We did not have one because we had been everywhere. We lived that bucket list."
Both Win and Mira became involved in the community, as golfers and as philanthropists. Win shared his business expertise as a member of the Advisory Board of Duke University Eye Center, serving sixteen years on the board and as chair of the Resource Development Committee.
The Reynolds joined the Foundation of FirstHealth and became Scroll Society and Legacy Circle members in 2008. As they learned more about FirstHealth, the couple decided to establish a charitable remainder trust with the Foundation.
When they came here in the eighties, Moore Regional Hospital was growing and adding new specialties. "How times have changed! The hospital started to attract good, younger doctors. The Reid Heart Center was built. We have a first-class facility here and soon we'll have a new cancer center! Why don't we keep our financial support local?"
In March 2020, the Covid pandemic brought Win and Mira's world travels to a halt. "We stayed home. We would sit and talk, and reminisce about our life, our friends around the world, where we were. We would laugh. We said, 'We will be vaccinated, and we'll start traveling again.' But it wasn't meant to be."
In February 2021, just weeks shy of his 96th birthday, Win's health started to fail. After two hospitalizations, Mira sought counsel from the caregivers at FirstHealth Hospice & Palliative Care to discuss goals of Win's care. On March 29, 2021, he was admitted to hospice and Mira cared for him at home until he passed away on July 6, 2021.
"We had a gift of that last year," Mira says. "Even though it was bad for everybody, we didn't think so. We were not distracted by any trips or planning trips. We didn't see friends. Just the two of us and we were not bored for a minute. That's what a special relationship we had."
As Mira reflects on meeting Win more than fifty years ago, she says, "I do not believe in coincidences. Things are meant to happen. How unlikely was that union to happen? With an American living in London coming to Dubrovnik on business, and then we met and got married. It's amazing but it was meant to happen.
"After fifty years, we were so much in love. It didn't occur to me but since he passed, friends tell me that it was obvious to them how we literally lived for each other. 'He always looked at you. It was like there was nobody else.'"
"It was just you."
To learn more about planned giving opportunities such as Charitable Trusts through The Foundation of FirstHealth, please call our office at (910) 695-7500.
