Four decades ago, they were fresh out of college, embarking on careers in education.

They came to Austin, but several eventually went their separate ways, while others remained.

Most of them followed career paths in education, both as administrators and teachers.

The one common link stretching through time has been their friendship.

Marriage and families, grandchildren came. Career had their ups and downs. Personal crises, family milestones and all that life offers came and went, but nothing could break the friendship link.

On Aug. 10, they held a reunion to celebrate 40 years of friendship and a record of longevity and amity.

Now seven couples register their brotherhood and sisterhood to stand for all time.

They are Bob and Sally Nelson of

Goodyear, Ariz., Joe and Mary Holland of Mankato, Darwin and Karen Lochner of Janesville, George and Jan Hokenson of Austin, Ron and Alice Anderson of Austin, Myron and Sue Jordan of Austin and Ed and Edna Gutman of Rochester.

The Andersons hosted the summertime reunion.

The stories abounded of individual Austin "connections" and other memories.

Bob Nelson was a student at the former Shaw Elementary School. He returned to teach there before going elsewhere and pursuing a career as director of elementary education and retiring in 1993.

Nelson's wife, Sally, a Lyle native, taught at Waterville for eight years before opening Exclusively Diamonds in Mankato.

Joe Holland taught at then-Austin Community College four decades ago before becoming a professor at now-Minnesota State University at Mankato. His wife, Mary, was an elementary school teacher.

Joe and Mary were college friends of the 40th reunion's hosts, Ron and Alice Anderson.

George Hokenson actually started a distinguished career as a business education teacher in 1958 and his wife, Janet, a physical education instructor in 1961. They have two sons who became teachers.

Ron Anderson actually started teaching at Grand Meadow Public Schools in 1959 and taught a year at Elkton Public Schools

before taking at job with Austin Public Schools.

His wife, Alice, taught kindergarten and first grade classes until retiring.

Myron Jordan was a long-time teacher and counselor, who also dabbled in the furniture business. His wife, Sue, operated a popular gift shop in downtown Austin for many

years. She also was a registered nurse.

Edna Gutman taught seventh and eighth grade English classes. Her husband, Ed, retired in 2002 after 27 years of teaching in the business accounting department at Rochester Community College. He also was a counselor.

The Lochners did not attend the 40th reunion. Darwin was a principal at Elkton Public Schools, taught English in the Austin district and returned to Elkton as a superintendent before retiring from Janesville as a superintendent. His wife, Karen, is a retired teacher.

How did it begin?

"We just hung out together in those days. We were either new to the Austin district or our spouses were friends and we used to get together at the Andersons in the beginning. We just liked each other from the very beginning," Joe Holland said.

"For those who were in college together or those who taught at the college in Austin, it was the same thing. We just got together, had fun and stayed friends," George Hokenson said.

"We just got together and had fun, when we were younger and haven't stopped since that time," Myron Jordan said.

The favorite event was a potluck meal and there have been special trips taken through the years although not always in anniversary years. In 1992, the seven couples took a trip together to Europe to commemorate 30 years of friendship.

The educators all retired in the 1990s or just after the new millennium began. Theirs were careers that began just as the 1950s were ending and stretched through the 1960s and 1970s into the 1980s and beyond.

"We were in education at a good time," said Myron Jordan.

The women among the group said each of them interrupted their careers to have and raise their children.

All of the couples praised today's educators for the new challenges they face in the classroom.

Joe Holland joked, "retirement is the best job I've ever had."

When all the years of teaching or school administration experience are added, the total comes to more than 400 years . The number of lives influenced by the group is staggering to contemplate.

What do they have in common today? Ed Gutman spoke for the group when he said, "We're all glad to be retired."

Lee Bonorden can be reached at 434-2232 or by e-mail at :mailto:lee.bonorden@austindailyherald.com