It was August 3, 2002, when Carl and Lorraine Wight of Lisbon, said their wedding vows on Mount Washington, the highest peak east of the Mississippi River, a majestic part of the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

It was the 7.6-mile auto road that wound the couple to the summit for their wedding day, but it was a personal tragedy and unusual circumstances that brought this couple together.

Carl was previously married to his first wife, Laurie, in 1984.

“Even though I always wanted to have children, Laurie had a medical condition that prevented her from having them,” said Wight.

It was in 2001 that further illness changed the couple’s life forever. Laurie was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia. After receiving treatments in the Portland area, she was referred to Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston where she and Carl lived in a hospitality house while receiving further treatment.

It was there that both Carl and Laurie met the house manager, a clinical social worker named Lorraine Ouellette, originally from North Berwick, Maine.

“His wife was concerned about what Carl would do if she passed away and she told him that he should remarry if it happens,” said Lorraine.

“I was in denial not thinking that she would die,” said Carl. “I was too occupied to think about remarrying.”

While at the hospitality house, Carl bonded with five other husbands who were living there during treatment for their wives. After three weeks time, Laurie passed away.

“All five husbands ended up losing their wives,” said Lorraine.

It was some time after his wife passed away that Carl wanted to donate one of her paintings to the hospitality house. He drove to Boston to make the donation and met with the social worker, Lorraine. They chatted over dinner and Carl returned to Maine to rebuild his life.

What happened then was a whirlwind course of events. Lorraine’s best friend lived in Portland and Carl had a condo in Windham. She invited him to dinner at her friend’s in Portland and a relationship soon began. In time, Lorraine moved to Maine to live with Carl.

It was on January 1, 2002, when the couple was participating in the Lobster Dip, the New Year’s Day event at which hearty people take a plunge in the ocean for charity, that Carl made a marriage proposal.

“We went in the water and had just come out. I took her hand and led her back into the water for another dip,” explained Carl. “While in the water and with it snowing outside, I got down on one knee and pulled out a ring. I figured (in that setting) she had little choice but to say ‘Yes’.”

The couple soon began to plan their wedding.

Originally from Berlin, N.H. and an avid skier and outdoorsman, Carl always had a love for the state’s White Mountains.

“My great-great grandmother was Dolly Copp, the first settler in Pinkham Notch,” said Carl. “I was thinking of doing something really different in that area.”

“I knew that this was Carl’s second marriage and I wanted a small and intimate ceremony,” said Lorraine.

The couple decided to have the ceremony, with about a dozen guests, on the summit of Mount Washington followed by a larger reception in nearby Jackson, N.H.

The first obstacle was to set a date for the wedding.

“You can never predict what the weather will be on the summit,” said Carl, noting that while temperatures at the base of the mountain can be summer-like, temperatures on the summit can be many degrees colder, and conditions can be windy or cloud-covered.

“We lucked out. It was 90 degrees at the base and a comfortable 65 degrees and sunny on the summit,” said Carl.

The couple rented all the commercial vans that regularly drive guests to the summit for the morning ceremony. As each van reached the top, the wedding party took their place in front of the historic Tip Top House, the oldest building on the summit and one of the original lodgings for travelers.

The guests were all in formal wear with tuxedos and dresses. “It was a challenge walking among the rocks with high heels,” said Lorraine.

A childhood friend of Carl’s performed the ceremony and a lone saxophone player provided music on the mountain top.

Rather than hire a wedding photographer to capture the day’s events, the couple hired a nature photographer who was well familiar with the Presidential Range.

“Yes, we wanted photos of the wedding, but it was important for us to capture the setting,” said Carl. “We stopped at different spots on the way down the mountain to capture the beauty of the mountains.”

Adventures continue today for the Lisbon couple. Lorraine is a clinical social worker in private practice while Carl is a plant manager for a concrete company. While Lorraine once had a dream of having a very traditional looking house, the couple find themselves in a modern passive solar home.

They share their lives with eight-year-old daughter, Anja, and they are legal guardians for sisters, Kiera, age 17, and Mary, age 20.

“What started with my wife passing away, really created another life,” said Carl, reflecting on the life and special bond that he and Lorraine share with their daughter.

Will future anniversaries top the experience of marrying on the summit of Mount Washington?

“Who knows?” said Lorraine, laughing at the thought.