Local Couple Celebrates 50-Year Anniversary

Golden Commitment

The month of February turns store shelves red. As Valentine’s Day approaches, Valentine cards offer quotes that celebrate enduring love, friendship and shared journeys. The focus on “falling in love many times” with the same person, cherishing daily life, and seeing your spouse as home are familiar sentiments printed on these cards.

While these lovely words are read on Feb. 14 each year, married couples know that a long-lasting relationship is hard work. An enduring relationship is a lifelong connection built on trust, mutual support, respect and consistent effort. Only 6 to 9% of United States couples make it to their 50-year anniversary, making it a truly rare and special milestone sometimes called the Golden Anniversary. Rising age at first marriage, divorce rates and changing family structures all contribute to fewer couples achieving this longevity.

One Franklin couple will soon be celebrating their Golden Anniversary in May. Rene’ and Julie (Goff) Olibo are a perfect example of a marriage that has endured through a half century of joys, memories and hardships.

The couple met during their high school years. Around 1972, Rene’ was working as a cook at Burger Chef when he noticed Julie as she came in to dine. Over time, he would sneak her free french fries to get her attention. Soon they were an official couple, and when the time came, Rene’ asked Julie’s father for permission to marry her. He found her an orange blossom ring purchased at a jewelry store in Southern Plaza on the south side of Indianapolis and drove Julie and her mom to a store in Louisville to purchase a bridal gown she had found pictured in a bridal magazine. Fifty years ago, the availability of multiple store options was limited. Online shopping was a futuristic fantasy not even imagined in the 1970s.

They married May 7, 1976, at Grace United Methodist Church. Julie really wanted lily of the valley flowers in her bouquet, but they were expensive, so her friend Holly went to friends’ homes and picked enough to fulfill Julie’s wish. They honeymooned in Brown County.

During their first years of marriage, they lived in an apartment in Franklin. Julie said the first 13 years of marriage they did not function as well as a team.

“We just kind of went by our own playbook.” Rene’ said, “I had to grow up. Once I realized that a relationship is what life is all about, and that relationship starts with God, my focus shifted from me to us.”

They made it through the early years of their marriage on a tight budget. Their entertainment included trips to Brown County or walking through the original Greenwood Park Mall. They saved enough to purchase a home lot in Nyberg Subdivision for $5,500 while still paying rent on their apartment. They then moved into a starter home with plans to build on their lot in the future. Rene’ was in lineman school in Plainfield when their house was under construction. Julie said she was only 21 at the time, and the decisions about the house were hers to make. With assistance from her parents, she chose the brick, shingles, carpet, lighting, paint and fixtures for their new home. The Olibos lived in that house for 23 years, raising their two children, Jordan and Marcus, there. Julie’s parents lived down the street, and they had good neighbors.

At different times in their marriage, Julie worked various jobs, but her schedule allowed her to be home with her children, something she says she has always treasured. Julie recalled times when Rene’ rode his bike five miles to work because they did not have extra money for gasoline. Making sacrifices together as a couple was not always easy, but it was necessary.

Rene’ had been working for Cinergy, now Duke Energy, for 25 years when, in 2000, he suffered an electrical accident on the job. He spent a month in the hospital, losing both of his hands. That same night, Julie’s mother passed away unexpectedly from a heart attack. That time in their life was heavy with worry and doubts about the future. Just living day to day was all she could manage, Julie said. Rene’ feared Julie would divorce him. Her response was that she “did not marry him for his hands.” Later that same year, Julie’s father passed away.

They both agree their faith carried them through those months of healing, recovery and grief. Rene’ endured six subsequent surgeries and, remarkably, returned to work six months after the accident. After retiring from Duke Energy, he worked at Lowe’s for five years and then another year and a half overseeing contractors for a private company.

Their strong faith again supported them as they grieved the loss of their first grandchild, Elena, born to their daughter Jordan and her husband, Brian Sanders. Ten years later, on Jan. 13, 2022, their son Marcus passed away in the hospital from COVID, leaving family and friends shocked by how the deadly virus infiltrated their lives. Still reeling from the loss, Julie recalled early days when she felt she could not go on. With loving support from one another, they describe how they balance each other when one is experiencing a particularly difficult day. They wholeheartedly agree it is their faith and the support of family and friends that carry them forward. This past year brought another loss when Julie’s brother, Tony, passed away.

Today, they live on the east end of Franklin in a home they built 23 years ago. They share their home with their dog, Riggs, who has been a comforting therapy pet since losing their son. They participate in church activities at New Life Baptist Church.

Rene’ volunteers through his church by driving young men in work-release programs when needed and serves at a men’s mission once a month. They both enjoy spending time and making memories with their three grandsons, Cohen, Eli and Landon. They enjoy dining out together or taking neighborhood walks with Riggs leading the way.

While they did take a few family trips during their child-rearing years, Julie laughed and said Rene’ “ruined her” early in their marriage when he drove 22 hours straight, taking her and the kids to visit his boyhood home in Texas. Since then, their focus has been on shorter drives. When asked about plans for their Golden Anniversary, they said they had none yet, but they will definitely go out to dinner. Julie reminisced about their 25th anniversary party planned by their children and friends. The surprise ended up not being much of a surprise when they saw their photograph in the newspaper a day or two before the celebration.

After a lifetime of challenges, Rene’ and Julie offer a simple recipe for marriage. “Marriage is not always easy, but when you value something, you work at it. That is why you need to be committed, you need to communicate, and you need to forgive.”