Celebrating 64 Years of Love
Lindsey Wilson University alumni couple John and Jean Collins mark their 64th wedding anniversary with lunch at university's Roberta D. Cranmer Dining & Conference Center.
COLUMBIA, Ky. (10/07/2026) — John and Jean Collins of Campbellsville, Kentucky, celebrated two momentous life events on Tuesday, Oct. 6, at Lindsey Wilson University -- the day they got married 64 years ago and the place where they first met more than 65 years ago.
"We talked about several places where we'd like to go, then he suggested that we come here," Jean said as she finished her lunch at Lindsey Wilson's Roberta D. Cranmer Dining & Conference Center, which was a field when they were students at the school.
"It's the best food around," said John. "This is the best food we can eat."
Then he said to Jean: "What better place could we come than where I met you?"
John and Jean met in autumn 1961 on the top of Lindsey Wilson Hill, where the university's Hendrickson Clock now stands. One of John's friends had set them up on a blind date to see a movie at the former Adair Drive-In Theatre, which was two miles south of Columbia on Burkesville Road.
Jean, who grew up on a family farm about three miles from campus on Kentucky Highway 206, had finished at Lindsey Wilson in 1957 and was working at the Union Underwear plant in nearby Taylor County, Kentucky. Her father, Paul Riggins, was also a Lindsey Wilson graduate.
John arrived at Lindsey Wilson with a footlocker and duffle bag after a 23-hour ride on a Greyhound bus from the Pittsburgh area.
"I came down here and checked it out, and I just saw cows and fields -- you were hiding," he said to Jean.
"It was love at first sight," said Jean, who turned 88 years old earlier this year.
"She's had unconditional love since the day I met her," said John, who will be 87 in November.
Life on the Hill
During the school year he attended Lindsey Wilson, John sang in the choir and lettered in tennis and cross country.
Lindsey Wilson was a junior college then, and John B. Horton was serving as its fourth president, presiding over mandatory weekly chapel meetings held in what is now V.P. Henry Auditorium. The legendary Cyrintha Terry greeted all visitors to the administration building, where some classes were also held.
"She was absolutely delightful," said John. "She was just a sweet, loving lady."
To help pay for his tuition, John mopped the floor of Hundley Hall, the school's dining center that was located in the basement of the building now called the W.W. Slider Humanities Center.
"It was a blessing to me," said John. "And I have fond memories because they gave me an opportunity."
Off to Lexington
John moved to Lexington, Kentucky, after receiving a music scholarship to Transylvania University. He contacted Jean and asked her to come to Lexington so they could get married. They were wed on Oct. 6, 1962.
During their 64 years of marriage, John's career took the family, which eventually included two sons, to eight states, where he held a variety of business jobs. While living in Rhode Island, John asked Jean where she wanted to move for their retirement. She told him Campbellsville, and that's where they have lived since 2005.
"It's been a rather eventful, colorful life," said Jean.
"I still feel the way about her today when I first met her," said John. "We have been blessed beyond belief. God has heaped blessing upon blessing on us."
Lindsey Wilson University is a vibrant liberal arts university in Columbia, Kentucky. Founded in 1903 and affiliated with The United Methodist Church, the mission of Lindsey Wilson is to serve the educational needs of students by providing a living-learning environment within an atmosphere of active caring and Christian concern where every student, every day, learns and grows and feels like a real human being. Lindsey Wilson offers 30 undergraduate majors, five graduate programs and a doctoral program. The university's 29 intercollegiate varsity athletic teams have won more than 120 team and individual national championships.
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Jean and John Collins of Campbellsville, Kentucky, met at Lindsey Wilson University in 1961 when it was a junior college. They celebrated their 64th wedding anniversary by having lunch in the university’s Roberta D. Cranmer Dining & Conference Center, which was a field when they were students at the school. They met in fall 1961 on the top of Lindsey Wilson Hill, where they are pictured standing.