Wednesday, February 14, 2024
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Serving Kosciusko County and parts of Elkhart, Marshall & Noble Counties Know Your Neighbor . . . . . . . . . 2➤ Nappanee Area News . . . . 6-7 National FFA Week . . . . 9-11 Vol. 53, No. 34
Milford (574) 658-4111 • Warsaw (574) 269-2932 • Syracuse (574) 457-3666
The McKinneys:
114 W. Market, Warsaw, Indiana 46580
MEMORY QUILT — Norman McKinney points out some photos of him and his wife, Mary, from the 1960s. The photos are printed on a memory quilt that was gifted to the couple. Photo by Lilli Dwyer.
Valentines for
IT’S BEEN A LONG, LONG TIME — Norman and Mary McKinney have been married for 54 years. They met and married in the late 1960s in a classic case of love at first sight. Photo by Lilli Dwyer.
By LILLI DWYER Staff Writer After 54 years of marriage, the McKinneys have been through a lot together. Norman McKinney Jr. was born and raised in Warsaw. His wife, Mary, was born in Kentucky and moved with her parents to the area when she was in the fifth grade. The two met in the late 1960s in a classic case of love at first sight. “He was a friend of my friend’s brother and that’s how I met him,” Mary recalled. “We were coming from my house and going to her house, and her brother and Norm were coming out. He was coming down the sidewalk there, and I saw him from a distance, and I just fell in love right then and there. ... I’ll never forget it, I can see it in my mind.” Their first date took place at Warsaw’s now-closed drive-in theater the very next night. When the couple later decided to get married, they took a road trip to Pound, Va., with Mary’s sister, Judy Marsillette, and her fiancee, John Mock. After finding a hospital chapel, the two couples eloped in a double ceremony. “When we did our vows, my sister and I said our vows together to our husbands and then they did the same thing,” Mary said. When they returned to Indiana, the McKinneys ended up making their home on the especially twisty stretch of SR 25, colloquially known as the Devil’s Backbone. Theirs is the only house on the Backbone, in fact, as most of the land along the
road is too swampy to build on. Norman did construction and carpentry work. He also traded hunting dogs and horses. Mary worked in the textile industry for most of her career, making jeans and gloves, and spent some time working for the Hallmark store. For several decades, Norman spent his weekends as a driver for Amish people, who are disallowed from driving themselves by their religious beliefs. “I had an old Amish guy I drove for over 50 years. We’d go to the Shipshewana horse sale. Eli Brooker, he passed away at the age of 95, two years ago. I had other ones, but he was the longest one. He was kind of my best friend,” Norman said. “Back then, they ran the Amish bank. My truck broke down and I didn’t have money to get it fixed ... Never signed papers; they just gave me the money, and I paid it back. They said, ‘Norm, we gotta get you a truck because you gotta take us around,’” he recalled with a laugh. Now in their 70s, the McKinneys have three sons, two grandchildren and two greatgrandchildren. Mary said she and Norman spend their time, “Getting by, day to day.” One of their pastimes is camping out and selling items they’ve collected over the years at flea markets. After a fire on their property last year, a big portion of their collection was lost. “We’ll still go camping, but we won’t have very much stuff to sell. We mainly did it for enjoyment and to see the people that we met over the years,”
54 YEARS
IN THE BEGINNING — A collection of photos of Norman and Mary McKinney from the late 1960s. Photo by Lilli Dwyer. Mary explained. One of the things Mary has to look forward to each year is a homemade valentine from Norman. Over the course of their marriage, he’s made one for her every Valentine’s Day, getting their grandchildren to help in later years. “I have to say, I’m proud of us,” Mary said of their marriage. “We’ve had our arguments, but neither one of us thought about leaving each other. We never split up, because I love him.” FOR MY VALENTINE — Over the course of the McKinneys’ marriage, Norman has given Mary a homemade Valentine each year, with their grandchildren helping him in later years. Pictured is one of the many valentines Mary has stashed around their home. Photo provided by L.J. Schwick.