Not too late to find love: Golden couple meet and tie the knot in local diner

'The Golden Bachelor' became an instant hit with fans worldwide, but a south-side Indianapolis diner has its own love story to share.

For months employees and patrons of Metro Diner have witnessed a golden match that culminated with a wedding at the restaurant.

Like Indiana resident Gerry Turner and New Jersey's Theresa Nist, the couple met after losing spouses. Unlike the celebrity couple, their relationship blossomed over coffee and didn't include millions of viewers.

David Ringham, 68, and Carol Ringham, 74, celebrated their first anniversary Wednesday at the restaurant, 7225 US 31 South, having breakfast at the table where they first met and months later exchanged wedding vows on Jan 3, 2023.

Carol’s second husband of nearly 40 years died in March 2020. David’s wife of 45 years died in March 2019.

Neither had thought much about dating. And although they shared at least one common friend for nearly five decades, they’d never met until July 2022.

That’s when Carol was having breakfast with her buddy Diana Holtz.

Holtz spotted David and invited him to join them at the table for coffee.

Metro Diner server Rene McNeil, though, helped prompt David to consider dipping his toe into the dating pool.

Server played matchmaker

McNeil has known him for about 20 years, having served him and his late wife, Linda, when they’d dined at LongHorn Steakhouse and then again when the couple began frequenting Metro Diner where she’d shifted. David, who lived near the restaurant, had continued to dine at Metro Diner alone for breakfast each day at 8 a.m. since Linda passed.

“He seemed maybe a little lonely, a little shy, a little quiet,” McNeil, 55, said. “He said Linda was the only girl he’d ever kissed. They began dating when he was 14.”

So she began playing matchmaker.

That age group apparently can use a little help with pairing.

About 36% of U.S. adults 65 and older report being single (unmarried, not living with a partner and not in a committed romantic relationship), compared to 23% of those ages 30 to 49 and 28% of those ages 50 to 64, according to Pew Research Center.

Nearly half, 49%, of women ages 65 and older are single, while 21% of their male counterparts share that status.

And of those 70 or older, only 22% of men and 19% of women had married twice, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

There was a regular Metro customer about David’s age that McNeil figured would be a good match for the Allison Transmission retiree.

“I had another lady that I waited on ... I thought they would do well together,” McNeil said.

After some prompting, David agreed to a meeting with the woman. But she never showed.

“The gal never would meet me,” he said. “But the more I thought about it, the more I thought ’Maybe it's time. I’ll try to do this. I am pretty lonely.’”

He got on a couple of dating apps. He didn’t enjoy the experience.

Striking out with apps

Few of the matches he made didn’t want to follow up with in-person meetings; some even though they had been on the apps for years, he said.

“A lot of people on there, they’re not really serious about dating,” he said. “I’m not a game player. It’s like you’re competing in a contest, which I don’t like either. My idea is that you find somebody on there and then that’s the person you date.”

"Then I was in Metro when Carol and I met. ... She was so refreshing. She was totally different. A very nice person," he said. "She listened to me. I’m not a real outgoing person, but she made it so easy for me to be. “She just blew me away.”

He called Holtz later that afternoon to ask about Carol’s availability and interest in dating.

Carol, a retired nurse, said she was unprepared.

“I laughed hysterically. I almost fell off the couch laughing so hard. I was like, ‘Who? Me?” she said. But she thought about it and realized she knew a lot about him and his wife from the conversations over the years with Diana.

“I’ve only heard wonderful things about them and how nice they were,” she said.  “How can it hurt to have someone to go to the movies with or go out to eat with once in a while?”

From coffee to bride in six months

They met for breakfast. Then they had movie dates; went for walks together; played board games; and sat on his large porch that overlooked a pond.

“We've watched the birds and the loons and everything like that. We got really good at knowing the duck families,” she said.

Carol was impressed with David’s knowledge of music trivia, particularly regarding 60s and 70s rock, he said.

After a two-month courtship, they were engaged. They moved in together that October.

There was no compunction about jumping to marriage, Carol said.

This is her third. Her mother married 13 times. In April, she attended the wedding of her 61-year-old stepson Charles Stansifer to 69-year-old Juanita in the activities room of the senior assisted living facility where they reside.

Carol first stepped into matrimony at age 18 in California, where she grew up. That union ended when her husband left. She was 25 with three young children.

Seeking a fresh start she headed to Indiana – with only $13 and two suitcases – where her grandmother and uncle lived; got a cruddy apartment in downtown Greenwood and began a job working nights while going to nursing school.

She met her second husband, Douglas Stansifer, at the hospital where they both worked. He calibrated tools for oxygen tanks. They were married from 1981 to 2020, when he died from Parkinson's disease.

“I thought there was no possible way that I could ever meet anybody else that would enhance my life. So that’s why nobody could have been more shocked than me to meet David,” Carol said.

A diner wedding

The couple asked the restaurant if they would have their nuptials at the space and manager Erik Marks gave the OK for an 8:30 a.m. ceremony.

McNeil even stepped up as David’s “best man,” she said.

Before that though, she introduced the couple to another customer, a local church pastor who came to the restaurant every Wednesday. He officiated the wedding.

They didn’t invite folks. They just told friends that they were doing a casual wedding at the place they met and people just showed up. He wore a nice sweater and black slacks. She was also in black slacks paired with a dressy top.

The restaurant presented the newlyweds with a cup, which all of the wedding attendees signed.

David Ringham picked up the meal check for the 15 or so attendees.

David no longer does daily breakfast at the restaurant. The Ringhams recently moved to a home at Timberlake Golf Course in Edinburgh.

And the couple says their families are happy about the union.

“I can’t tell you how much support we got from family members,” David said. That included the family of his late wife. ”They accepted Carol right away. They knew I was happy.”

Contact IndyStar reporter Cheryl V. Jackson at cheryl.jackson@indystar.com or 317-444-6264. Follow her on X.com:@cherylvjackson.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana couple find love in golden year, marry at local diner