Frances High School Sweethearts Celebrate 60 Years of Wedded Bliss

Bruce and Charlotte (Dycus) Ordway

On December 18, 2011 at the First Presbyterian Church in Merrillville, IN, Bruce Ordway originally of Crayne, KY, and Charlotte Dycus Ordway originally of Dycusburg, KY, renewed their vows in a 60th wedding anniversary ceremony along with 135 of their closest friends and family.

The couple was married in a small Mississippi town where they ran off as young adults madly in love to elope on January 20, 1952. Charlotte Dycus Ordway is the only daughter of the late Mark and Geneva (Cooksey) Dycus of Dycusburg. Bruce Ordway is the youngest son of four children born to the late Robert and Imogene Ordway of Crayne, KY.

Charlotte, also known as “Candy,” was a Frances High School cheerleader who went on to attend college at Murray State. Bruce is a recent Frances High Basketball team Hall of Fame member who went to the Navy. The couple relocated to Northwest Indiana in the late 1950s where they worked and raised their family, daughter Renee Ordway Connelly of Merrillville, IN, and son Greg (wife Sharon) Ordway of Portage, IN.

Both Charlotte and Bruce retired in the 1980s. Charlotte was employed by the telephone (merged multiple times and now AT&T). Bruce retired as a senior analyst from DuPont. The couple stayed in Merrillville until the millennium when they decided to split time between the Ordway farm in Crayne and their home in Daytona Beach Shores, FL.

Mr. and Mrs. Ordway now reside full time in Florida. The couple says everyone in their old home town growing up said their marriage "wouldn’t last 6 months" ... and here they are today, happy and in good health, celebrating being together 60 years later.

The couple is an inspiration to many, the rock of their family, and have affected so many people with their love and friendship over the years. Bruce and Charlotte thank God for being blessed with such a wonderful life, good health and a loving family (including many nieces, nephews, and cousins, five grandchildren, and three, soon to be four great grandchildren). Bruce is also thankful for the beautiful woman he married, who he looks forward to spending every day with for the rest of their lives.

If you would like to get in touch with the couple, they are on Facebook under the name BruceandCharlotte Ordway, and their email address is bcordie2@yahoo.com.