A marriage built to last

Jane and Karl Tombarge's three children long ago had children of their own.

As the years went by, those children also had children, and soon enough, even those children had children.

It's what you might expect after seven decades of marriage, but the Red Wing couple still look out with amazement whenever the family gets together, bringing five generations under one roof.

"Mom will look at Dad and say, 'Look what we started,'" daughter Mary Lou Linder said.

The Tombarge's celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary Sunday. The strength of their marriage, Jane Tombarge says, has always come from communication.

"We have respect for each other and communicate well," she said.

The two met in 1936, when Karl's family moved in across the street from Jane's home just north of Lake City. They were both 16.

They married four years later and spent most of their life together at their Red Wing home. Both have since moved into Deer Crest, where Karl resides in memory care due to the onset of Alzheimer's disease.

Tombarge acknowledged that marriages that stand the test of time are becoming less common, and she offered this piece of advice to newlyweds: "Always talk things over," she said, "and say 'I love you' once in a while."

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