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A Real Owens Love Story

Many people have found a new start to their lives in the hallways and classrooms of Owens Community College, but few to the degree that Andrew and Lindsey Whitcomb did.

True, the education they both received as Owens graduates set them up for success in life, but perhaps more importantly, the beginning of their life together as husband and wife began in College Hall.

“It was so important in our relationship, if we wouldn’t have met at Owens, we wouldn’t be married, we wouldn’t have a son,” Andrew said.

The fact that either of them ended up at Owens in the first place is random. Neither are from the immediate area – Andrew is from St. Louis, and Lindsey is from Van Wert – and attending Owens wasn’t necessarily on their to-do list.

“I’m glad I chose Owens because who knows where I’d be,” Lindsey said.

Lindsey was first to come through Owens, as a student and worker in the Center for Campus and Community Connections. After graduating, she went to Bowling Green State University and studied abroad in England.

She never strayed too far from Owens, though, keeping tabs on new people at Owens through Facebook. One day, a new person popped up on Facebook, a student worker in the office who shared mutual friends.

Andrew didn’t immediately accept the friend request, but when Lindsey came back to Owens to work while in her final year at BGSU, he put two-and-two together.

“We would just hang out with our group of friends who were also in that office,” Andrew said. “We starting hanging out after work.”

Lindsay added, “And one thing led to another.”

Lindsey graduated from Owens in 2013 and Andrew in 2017. They began dating in March 2016, moved in together in November of that year, and they were married in 2019.

“When we first moved in together, we knew we wanted to spend the rest of our lives with each other, so we focused really, really hard on some issues before any issues existed,” Andrew said. “I’d never been this intentional about being in love with someone until I was in this relationship. It’s effortless, but I want to make sure that every second of the rest of my life is with you.”

Not only did they spend the first year of their marriage hard at work, they were under the restrictions of the Covid pandemic. To make matters worse, their kitchen flooded during their honeymoon, meaning they needed to have that space gutted and replaced during the pandemic.

According to Lindsay, that experience made their relationship stronger. Andrew agreed, saying it helped them “navigate communication issues that we didn’t know were going to exist until you’re stuck in a house all day.”

Lindsey is now the assistant director for TRIO Student Support Services, a federally-funded program housed at Owens to help students attain an associate degree, certificate and/or transfer to a four-year university. Andrew is the operations manager for Seagate Food Bank in Toledo.

Last year, their family grew by one member when Owen was born in June 2024. And, yes, his name is an intentional callback to their beginnings here.

“It took us a really long time to pick a name,” Lindsey said. “We could not agree on anything. It was Owen and Bennett, but we wanted to see what he looked like. To us, he looks like an Owen.”

Lindsey and Andrew both agree they met some amazing people at Owens, but none more so than each other.

“Places are made out of the experiences and people you meet along the way, so Owens was such an important place to us; the moment that we decided to spend the rest of our lives together is because of Owens,” Andrew said. “It only makes sense that our son, the product of our relationship, is named Owen.”