Members of HHS class of 1949 share secrets to long marriages
If the boys in the Highland High School class of 1949 had held a vote for “most likely to live happily ever after,” it likely would have resulted in at least three-way tie.
Tom Tschudy, Ken Bruckner and Wayne Antenen, all members of the HHS class of ’49, have all lived full lives, including military service and good careers. But these three life-long friends, now all in their 80s, share another distinction — all have been married for more than six decades.
Tschudy, a retired salesman for a metal company and a Navy veteran, is the longest tenured member of the marriage group. He and his wife, the former Sue Miller, who was also a classmate, have been married more than 63 years. They now live in Florida and have four children, nine grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.
They began dating in high school. Their first date was at a hayride. Tom had just been dumped by his girlfriend, and Sue took the opportunity to ask him out.
“She felt sorry for me,” he said. “She thought I got a raw deal.”
“I wasn’t quite sure he would go,” said Sue, who had moved to Highland her junior year in high school.
But he did, and “one thing led to another.”
“We went together four years, and we got married when I was in the service,” Tom said.
Antenen was one of their groomsmen. Bruckner would have been, but was on deployment with the Navy.
“Bruckner was at sea on an aircraft carrier,” Tom said.
Antenen and the former Mary Ann “Chris” Christofferson celebrated their 60th anniversary in October.
They met while they were both doing their undergraduate studies at Illinois State University.
While he was in school at ISU, Antenen’s parents had also moved to Bloomington and opened a restaurant there. Chris was one of their waitresses.
“We knew each other and ended up going out a couple times, and just kept going,” Wayne said.
After a dating for a couple years, they decided to get married in a small, family ceremony. It was “what they could afford,” Wayne said.
“We were just poor graduate students,” he said.
Antenen would serve as a lab technician in the Army Medical Service Corps. He went on to earn a Ph.D. in counseling and educational psychology from the University of Illinois and became a professor, first at the University of Florida, then at the University of Georgia, from where he retired.
The Antenens still live in Georgia. Three children and two grandchildren came from their union.
Bruckner and his bride, the former Joy Kraft, wed 62 years ago. Both Tschudy and Antenen were attendants in their wedding.
Bruckner, who served in the air branch of the Navy during the Korean War, went on to have a career in the Civil Service. He and Joy met at a dance in O’Fallon in 1952.
“We were married in 1953,” he said.
They have three children, two grandchildren and live in Belleville.
So, what secrets do these couples have when it comes to a long, happy marriage?
▪ You have some space from time to time.
“For me, it’s to go hunting during the hunting season,” Bruckner said.
▪ Take things one day at a time.
“We didn’t have a great deal of plans. We just worked on it every day,” Sue Tschudy said.
▪ Fights will happen.
“We knock heads occasionally, but that’s normal,” Sue Tschudy said.
▪ Winning isn’t everything.
“I guess, after a while, you learn you aren’t going to win any fights,” Bruckner laughed.
▪ Friendship is first.
“We are best friends of course, and we just get along really well together,” Tom Tschudy said.
▪ And patience.
“A lot of patience — from both sides,” Antenen said.
This story was originally published December 18, 2015 at 7:57 AM with the headline "Members of HHS class of 1949 share secrets to long marriages."