Growing Old With You

August 28, 2025

Lately, I have processed two collections in particular that featured couples who enjoyed long marriages. I always find it fascinating to see photos of people in different stages of their lives. In this case, it was interesting to see these couples when they were young and enamored with each other, and then when they were older, after many years of hard work and good fortune to stay together. And with wedding season in full swing (and presumably anniversary season), I thought I would share some of these Hoosier pairings of the past as inspiration.

Jack Schwartz (1900-1992) was born on a farm about four miles north of Berne, Indiana. When he was 19 he began working as a teacher at the Mennonite parochial school. In 1924, he married a neighbor girl, Edna Habegger (1906-1998). Edna was the fourth of eight children of Joel H. and Elizabeth [Mazelin] Habegger.

Jack and Edna had three children. Their oldest, Marie, also became a teacher and as an adult helped her mother Edna with her high school equivalency courses. At the age of 57 Edna completed the courses with a 90% average. Jack and Edna lived in Nappanee, Indiana, and then later moved to Goshen (evidently with a lot of vacations to Florida in between).

I also processed a collection of photo albums and scrapbooks from Jean [Ransom] Thomas (1916-2002) and Charles J. Thomas (1913-1989). Jean and Charles came to Indianapolis from Columbus, Ohio after Charles got a job teaching Industrial Arts in the public schools here. He later went to Butler and eventually taught at Shortridge High School. They were married in 1936.

Charles was a veteran of World War II. I thought it was very sweet how Jean stayed close to him while he was receiving his training in Aberdeen, Maryland. She got a job selling cigars at the local exchange branch and lived at the service club. Once Charles deployed to Europe, she kept a very nice scrapbook of everywhere he went and everything he sent her.

In 1986, the couple celebrated their 50^th wedding anniversary. Judging from this photo, they were just as bonkers for each other as ever.

All this enduring mooshiness reminds me of the 1998 Adam Sandler movie The Wedding Singer, in which he sings to Drew Barrymore:

I wanna make you smile whenever you’re sad
Carry you around when your arthritis is bad
All I wanna do is grow old with you.

I’ll get your medicine when your tummy aches.
Build you a fire if the furnace breaks
Oh it could be so nice, growin’ old with you.

You can learn more about Jack and Edna in the Eichenberger, Schwartz, and Habegger Family Collection, also known as M1540. The Jean and Charles Thomas Collection, which includes that great WWII scrapbook, is P0909.

Matt Holdzkom is an archivist at the Indiana Historical Society. He's a circus history enthusiast, dog person, puppeteer, casual cyclist and karaoke nut.

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