April 3, 2009
Good Shepherd couple will celebrate 70 years of marriage
Joseph “Joe” and Mary Brown will celebrate their seventieth wedding anniversary on April 10. (Message photo by Mary Ann Hughes) Click for a larger version.
By MARY ANN HUGHES (Message staff writer)
She says he’s a wonderful husband, and he says she’s “the best,” and on April 10 they will celebrate 70 years of marriage. They are Joseph “Joe” and Mary Brown, 93 and 90 years old respectively.
They both grew up in Kentucky, and 60 years ago — 10 years into their marriage — they moved to Evansville. “We call ourselves ‘Hoosiers,’” she says. “He was a farmer, and then he got a job at Servel.”
They joined St. Mary’s Church in downtown Evansville, and sent their six children to Mater Dei High School. Today, they are parishioners at Good Shepherd Church in Evansville, and their family includes children, Gerald Wayne, Norma Joyce, Sue, Judy, Joseph “Randy” and Vicki, 15 grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren.
Mary says the golden years have been happy ones. “I have wonderful children and a wonderful husband,” she said, looking to her husband and asking, “I guess you’d call me a pretty good wife, eh?”
“The best,” he responds.
“We are in pretty good health,” she says, adding, “We take care of ourselves.”
They were both raised Catholic, and all of their children and the “biggest part” of the grandchildren are Catholic.
“We always went to church, and a lot of times it was hard,” Mary said. “We didn’t have a car at the start, and someone would come pick us up.
“I always prayed that I would live to raise my children. I never dreamed I would have all the great-grandchildren, and every one of them is sweeter than the other.”
A family party is planned for April 10. “Rarely in this day and time do you hear of people married 70 years,” Mary said. “I hope we live to be a hundred!”