A Dream Come True
Chuck and Judy Koskovich met at UNM and have been together ever since.
By Mary Conrad

Married 50 years, Judy Hubbard Koskovich, ’55 BSED, is still thrilled by her storybook romance with her husband, Chuck, ’54 BBA. A senior, he was quarterback of the Lobo football team; a junior, she was the homecoming queen. They met at his fraternity house. After Homecoming 1953, Chuck gave Judy his Kappa Sig pin and the two became a steady couple. Six months later, on a drive back to Albuquerque from Judy’s hometown of Farmington, New Mexico, Chuck proposed. Judy and Chuck were married in Farmington on November 24, 1954. The wedding party included several fellow Lobos:

Despite the “dreaminess” of it all, Judy looks back and thinks her mother may have been right: waiting until she graduated to get married might have been a better idea. Judy spent a lot of nights by herself the following semester, thinking about all the fun in the sorority house while Chuck traveled for Continental Oil.

Judy graduated in June 1955 and their daughter, Kathy, was born the following October. In 1956, the trio was sent off to the plains of Lubbock, Texas, and shortly thereafter to Pampa, Texas, where they learned to fend off tornadoes and frigid snowstorms. In the summer of 1957 the family uprooted to Farmington where two little boys, Mark and Bill, joined their ranks, and they all enjoyed being near their grandparents, Deb and Wardie Hubbard. After three years in Farmington, there came the urge to return to Albuquerque where Chuck was first employed by ACF Industries. Next followed a 20-year career with the US Department of Energy in the contracts and information management division.

Judy began teaching first grade for Albuquerque Public Schools in 1960 and their third son, Greg, was born in 1964. Judy returned to teaching in 1967 and devoted the next 30 years to a very rewarding and satisfying career for a total of 33 years in first grade!

The key to keeping a marriage together for 50 years starts with choosing the right mate, deep commitment, and agreeing upon the same goals and values, Judy says. In the Koskoviches’ case, that meant being each other’s best friend, enjoying their respective families, and working together to give their children “the best life we could, wanting them to be happy and good people.”

Friends have always played an important role in the Koskoviches’ life. A lot of their friends from UNM have “gone and paid their dues elsewhere, but then come back” to Albuquerque. A core group of 14 couples—each an original marriage—still see each other often. “Our marriages may not have been roses every day,” says Judy. “But we fully appreciate how fortunate all of us are.” Judy and Chuck both retired in 1996, giving themselves more time to enjoy their grandchildren, friends, traveling, life, and each other.

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