Jax State Sweethearts - Hugh Bryant and Jeanie Bailey Bryant at Jax State

The story begins.

Both Jeanie and I attended Banks High School in Birmingham. Since we were a year apart in age, we really didn’t know each other well. I enrolled at Jax State in September 1965. Jeanie enrolled at Jax State in September 1966. I had no idea Jeanie was coming to Jax State until I saw her on campus in the fall of 1966 in a crowd of students headed to class. I was thrilled to see her and pushed through the crowd to say “hello.” I was happy that she remembered me. We chatted for a few minutes, and I found out that Jeanie was living in Curtiss Hall. 

It was important to know where Jeanie lived because, in those days at Jax State, about the only way to make a follow-up contact was to make an “in-person” visit at the dorm. A few weeks following our initial encounter, I made a visit to Curtiss and asked to see Jeanie Bailey. We had a nice visit, and I asked Jeanie for a date for the coming weekend. I came to find out that Jeanie’s social calendar was pretty full. She declined. I was declined a couple more times, in a nice way, before a date was finally accepted for an evening in February 1967.

On our first date, we went to a movie in Anniston. We must have had fun because we continued to date regularly. We enjoyed each other’s company and began to really like being together. We ate most of our meals together in the cafeteria, attended events, and spent other time together on campus. We realized that we were in love.

Jeanie’s dad asked us not to get married until after Jeanie graduated. I was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in January 1970 and left Jax State for active duty in the U.S. Army. In keeping with our promise to her dad, Jeanie graduated from Jax State on Saturday, May 30, and we were married the next day, May 31, 1970. Promise kept.

We have been happily married for nearly 55 years. We enjoy coming back to Jacksonville. Visiting Jax State makes us feel young again. It’s special to walk the campus and relive memories from the place where we fell in love.

The story continues.