For Jeff and Ann Crihfield Burkam, both members of Wittenberg’s class of 1974, this year’s Homecoming, Reunion, and Family Weekend will offer the opportunity to celebrate two major milestones in their life together: their 50th Reunion and their 50th wedding anniversary.

Married two days before Wittenberg’s Commencement ceremonies in June 1974, Jeff and Ann will return to campus to reunite with old friends and classmates at the 50th reunion events and to celebrate their golden anniversary at the University’s inaugural vow renewal ceremony at 9:30 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 5, at Kissing Bridge in Commencement Hollow.

Jeff and Ann’s story began in their first days on campus in the fall of 1970 while participating in new student activities. Waiting in line at the president’s reception to shake hands with then-President G. Kenneth Andeen, they found themselves standing next to each other.

“We just started talking and we got to be friends because we had a lot of things in common,” Ann says.

Over the next two years, the two would run into each other on campus, hang out together in groups at W-day and other social events, and even go on a double date – not with each other, but with other people.

“We kept crisscrossing paths,” Ann says. “We had a lot of mutual friends, but we didn’t date each other.”

At the end of Ann’s sophomore year, she received surprising news from her parents. Due to financial reasons, she would have to transfer to the University of Cincinnati (UC) to finish her teaching degree.

Ann didn’t let these new circumstances get in the way of her Wittenberg friendships. A member of Delta Gamma, she stayed in close touch with her sorority sisters and frequently visited campus.

“I was what we teasingly called a ‘social student.’ I was even studying in the library one time. I was visiting but needed to do my homework,” Ann says with a laugh.

She also hoped to continue her friendship with Jeff, and during those frequent visits, they started dating and stayed together their junior and senior years.

As graduation neared in the spring of 1974, Jeff earned a Rotary Club fellowship to study abroad in Sydney, Australia. Realizing their relationship was serious enough that they didn’t want to be apart, they decided to get married.

“We had become such good friends that we didn’t want to miss another moment not being together,” Ann says.

Their wedding – a small, simple garden ceremony at Ann’s church in Cincinnati – took place one week after Ann’s graduation from UC and two days before Jeff’s graduation from Wittenberg. They spent the summer in Springfield, where Jeff worked for Congressman Clarence John “Bud” Brown Jr. on his re-election campaign and Ann worked at a clothing store at the brand-new Upper Valley Mall. Professor of Education Roy Hickes, one of Jeff’s professors, let them stay in the basement apartment of his home.

Jeff and Ann then moved to Sydney for a year of study, work, and travel. After returning to the United States, Jeff attended law school at Capital University while Ann taught music. They eventually settled in Delaware, Ohio, where Jeff practiced law and Ann continued teaching, retiring after 37 years. Of Delaware, Ann says, “We felt the Wittenberg connections a lot, living in the small town of a Division III sister school.”

Residing less than 90 minutes from Wittenberg, they have returned often to campus for reunions and to meet family halfway between Delaware and Dayton. They play tennis and pickleball at Snyder Park, attend performances at Kuss Auditorium, and eat at Ridgewood Café. Growing up, their sons, Ben ’05 and Tom ’07, played at Cliff Park and visited Santa at the mall.

“Our kids grew up knowing Witt as a fun area,” Ann says. Both boys eventually attended Wittenberg and played on the tennis team, and Ann and Jeff spent six years going back and forth between home and Wittenberg and other NCAC campuses to attend their sons’ tennis matches, becoming “the de facto tennis team parents,” according to Ann.

It isn’t just proximity that keeps Ann and Jeff so connected to Wittenberg. Even though she has degrees from a couple of different universities, Ann still considers herself a member of the class of 1974.

A kicker for the football team, Jeff was part of the 1973 national championship team, and he has maintained close friendship with his teammates, returning to campus for numerous football reunions.

“The reason they were what they were is because they were all amazing individual people, and they believed in the team spirit, and they were true Wittenberg ambassadors themselves,” Ann says.

Homecoming, Reunion, and Family Weekend will find Jeff and Ann taking a walk down memory lane at Class of 1974 50th Reunion events and celebrating the love they found at Wittenberg at the first-ever vow renewal ceremony. See the full schedule of events here. As a reminder and in light of recent events in Springfield, added safety and security measures will be in place throughout the weekend.