THEN & NOW: Sue and Jon Winner
As an Atlanta Jewish Times tradition, we spotlight some of the city’s most optimistic and fun-loving couples who share how they met and their secrets to longstanding marriage.
After 37 years with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and now with the AJT, , Jaffe’s focus is lifestyle, art, dining, fashion, and community events with emphasis on Jewish movers and shakers.
Years Married: 57 years
August 1965
Location: Lincolnwood, Ill. Hyatt House Hotel (suburban Chicago)
Initial Attraction?
Sue: My parents drove me to Iowa City to start the university. The day after they helped me move into the dormitory, I connected with friends who called some guys she knew over to meet us. One of them, Jon, had been giving his fraternity pledges a tour of the “important spots on campus” like girls arriving at the dormitory. Jon asked us to go for a Coca-Cola.
Jon: “If that redhead (Sue) was Jewish, I would marry her in a minute…but she’s not!” I declared. When I saw she was going to the SDT house, I was a little shaken.
Sue: He was considerably more pale as I responded that we were all Jewish. I chased him for four years before we married, so much for “in a minute.” He was then a junior in medical school and I taught school to support us.
Jon: Seeing her for the first time, I was thunderstruck that she could be my mate forever.
Sue: Jon was really cute, red-headed, sweet, and smart.
Secrets?
Sue: We understood that we were a team and faced challenges with love and respect.
Jon: Humor…the ability to laugh with each other and at ourselves. We learned how to express our feelings and situations we encountered without disrespect.
Sue: Years ago, Jon won a city-wide WSB radio contest, describing love. His definition was “an energy force, emanating from the soul, that bonds without limitations.” And that has not changed to this day.
Jon: The prize was $500 worth of Cindy’s Hamburgers which had to be used within a year. Cindy’s Restaurant did not make it, but Sue and I have!
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