Jim and Valerie Hornaday, North Webster, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary recently with an open house dinner at Maple City Chapel, Goshen, hosted by their children. They were married Sept. 21, 1963 at Meridien Heights Presbyterian Church, Indianapolis. Jim retired from Trane Air Conditioning and McQuay Air Conditioning, both in Indianapolis. Valerie retired from Hamilton Southeastern High School, Fishers, where where she worked with special needs students. They met in Indianapolis where Valerie’s summer job at American United Life Insurance had just ended as she was leaving for college. Jim had just been discharged from the Navy when he showed up in Indianapolis to spend a couple of weeks in training for Western Electric and visiting family. One night, they both went to the same party, and there they met. Valerie soon left for college in Missouri, and Jim went back to his new job in New York. The long-distance romance and a lot of letter writing ended in marriage within the year. The couple have five children: Tamara (and Rick) Moore, Noblesville; Taryn (and spouse Mike) Hepler, Warsaw; Tracy (and spouse Dave) Kozikowski, Aurora; James (and Emily Duncan), Winona Lake; John (and Lori Maturana), McCordsville; and 12 grandchildren. A trip to Hawaii was enjoyed earlier.
