Hand-In-Hand For 65 Years!
Waynedale residents, Edwin Paul and Mary Lou (VanOsdale) Fox will celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary on July 25, 2024. They were married at just 19 years old at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in 1959. Through thick and thin, they continued to be strong partners for each other and a loving team, side by side in everything they set out to accomplish in life.
“We do everything together,” Mary Lou said. “And although we don’t see it often with other couples, especially at our age, we almost always hold hands. We hold hands when we go shopping, when we’re in church, and especially when we pray.”
For more than 25 years, the couple has delivered The Waynedale News and have become well-known figures in the Waynedale area as they now deliver the community newspaper to more than 200 businesses throughout the South, Southwest, and downtown areas of Fort Wayne. The 84-year-olds say that they are often greeted in anticipation of the next edition of the newspaper by business owners, office workers, and other residents in the area who have come to know them and the delivery vehicle they drive.
“People get excited when they see us coming. We love the paper, so it makes us very proud to be the ones to give the latest edition to them.” Mary Lou continued, “People often meet us at our van or the door while we’re delivering. Residents on our route that we’ve come to know will sometimes even gift us popcorn, produce, and drinks in a thankful “trade” for the paper delivery.”
This team began delivering the newspaper under the leadership of its former Publisher, Bob Stark, shortly after Edwin’s retirement from a K-mart Corporation Warehouse after 32 years of service in 1997. Mary Lou retired from Lincoln Life after 17 years of service in 1992. What started as a new venture for Edwin and Mary Lou quickly became a family affair, with even their children and grandchildren taking on delivery routes over the years. Edwin, who began his working life as a 9-year-old carrier for Fort Wayne’s Journal Gazette, finds it fitting and fulfilling that he will end his working career also delivering papers.
“When we began delivering the newspaper, it was just a job to keep our minds and bodies active in retirement.” Mary Lou added that while they still do it for the same reasons, the Waynedale News has become not only a paper they truly enjoy but they look forward to the people they meet while delivering.
Edwin and Mary Lou adore spending time with their family, watching Pacers basketball, and being together. The couple has four children; Tammy (Bob) Anderson,Terri (Tim) Koomler, Timothy (Maria Castaneda) Fox, and Tara (James) Warren. They have 13 grandchildren, one deceased, 7 grandchildren-in-law, 11 great-grandchildren, one due in September, and one great-grandchild born to heaven.
Currently parishioners of Blackhawk Ministries, Edwin and Mary Lou say that faith is a large part of their life and marriage. They thank God for the blessing of having one another and the incredible family He has given them. They pray before all meals, it doesn’t matter where. And they sit together on the bed each night to pray hand in hand, before a kiss and a “sleep tight.”
As for advice for newlyweds, partners, and those currently married, Edwin and Mary Lou share that what keeps them together is, “We like each other, we love each other, and we are best friends. Never go to bed mad, never lie to each other, and always hold hands.”
Congratulations on 65 years Ed and Mary Lou Fox!
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