A sweet beginning: Lafayette couple celebrates 75 years of marriage
LAFAYETTE, Ind. – If you meet the love of your life outside a candy shop, chances are the years ahead could be rather sweet.
And, if you're lucky, the years could cross eight decades. And counting.
R. Max Morehouse and Patricia Ehresman discovered each other on the street corner outside McCord Candies in downtown Lafayette. Max, who would graduate from Lafayette Jefferson High School, was on his side of the Wabash River. His new sweetheart, Patricia, a West Lafayette Red Devil, came from across the bridge.
Wedding bells would come later, 75 years ago, on July 11, 1948, after Max joined the U.S. Navy.
"He proposed in a letter," said daughter Sandy Brennan. "They got married on a 10-day leave and honeymooned in exotic Michigan City."
Max and Patricia would have five children — Steve Morehouse, of Otterbein,; Connie Morehouse (Ilhan Tamer), of Lafayette; Sandy, of Frankfort; Carin Moskovitz, also of Frankfort; and Dan Morehouse, of Lafayette.
"They are pretty amazing," their daughter said, "in my honest but unbiased opinion."
Patricia made most of their clothes, Sandy said, and if the results of her sewing didn't come out quite how she planned, their mother had a favorite saying:
"It will never be seen on a galloping horse."
Their father, Sandy added, also had a favorite saying for the Morehouse children: "I taught you everything I know and you STILL don't know nothin!"
Their children have given them eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Max, who fully retired from Purdue University in 2012 as a building inspector, loves woodworking, creating pieces of furniture. He still golfs two days a week.
Patricia, a volunteer for the March of Dimes and the Salvation Army food bank for 25 years, managed Mr. Donut before retiring from Jewel Grocery.
A serious car accident five years ago halted Patricia's regular volunteering, a catastrophic event that left her neck and back broken.
"But she's still going strong," Sandy said.
"Dad turned 90 in the trauma unit in Atlantic City, New Jersey," Sandy told the Journal & Courier. "They spent a month in a rehab facility in the same room. We (four of the five) kids never left their sides."
To celebrate their anniversary, Patricia tried on her 75-year-old wedding dress — and it still fits.
Theirs is "not a perfect marriage," Sandy said, "but they have always been committed to each other and family is everything to them."
Their mom, she said, would likely adopt a stranger who took interest in their story, "and my dad would give you some good-hearted teasing."
The close-knit family they created also include:
Grandchildren:
Max Brennan, 40Magie Brennan, 36Jake Brennan, 32Jessica (Moskovitz) Doyle, 30Ben Morehouse, 28Daniel Moskovitz, 27Beau Brennan, 23Zoe Brennan, 20
Great-grandchildren:
Kaden, 3Kennedy, 14 monthsKinsley, 12 months
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: A sweet beginning: Lafayette couple celebrates 75 years of marriage
