Published: February 06, 2008 04:06 pm            

Sleepless in Zionsville

It may have taken “liquid courage,” in the wee hours of the night, for Sam Hunter to call an old high school friend who he had not seen in 14 years, but without those few drinks, Sam would have missed out on a lifetime of conversation.

Sam’s wife of 23 years, Pat (Butz) Hunter, remembers the phone call vividly.

“I was asleep and he called me at midnight, I answered the phone and I was very grouchy,” Pat said. “When he told me who he was, I wish I hadn’t been so grouchy.”

Pat and Sam have both been Zionsville residents for 22 years, but grew up in the same small town of Greenfield.

Pat’s earliest memory of Sam was in the second grade in1960. They sat next to each other during Harris Elementary in the first televised space launch. Next, it was at Greenfield Jr. High in the eighth grade, when she asked him to be her square dance partner. But like most young boys, he didn’t quite read the signs right, and other than a dance, he pretty much ignored her.

She gave it one more shot at Greenfield High School when she nominated him to be class treasurer. She was on the student council. Sam declined and said he “wasn’t interested.”

Fast-forward 14 years, April 19, 1984. He was definitely interested now. Sam, who was living in Indianapolis and working as a test engineer for Detroit Diesel-Allison, had just spoken to Pat’s brother, Rick Butz, who he remained close with since high school. Butz told Sam his sister was single and living in Elkhart. And that was it. He called her that night.

“Honestly, I had a few drinks before I called her,” Sam said.

They spoke for 2-1/2 hours and he asked her out.

But Pat said she tried to be coy and told him she wasn’t sure when she would be in Indianapolis again. Sam busted her and said her brother had mentioned she comes home every weekend to Greenfield to see her parents. She agreed to go out with him that weekend.

Sam picked her up in a red pick-up truck on a Saturday night. They had a rocky first conversation, Pat said. They stopped at the Sour Apple Lounge at the Greenfield bowling alley to have cocktails and Pat said she was “horrified.”

“I was thinking, wow, this guy is really going all out,” she said sarcastically. But the night got better. And it became one of those dates that never end.

They went to a nice restaurant, a movie and then to the Waffle House. They made plans to see one another the next night. And soon made plans for the rest of their lives.

About two months after their first date, Sam, a train buff, asked Pat to marry her while drinking champagne by a railroad track. Pat, a wise 32-year-old, said she was surprised, and not quite convinced.

“Ask me again when we aren’t drinking champagne,” she answered him.

Two weeks later he asked her again, and this time she said “yes.”

Pat and Sam have two children, Zionsville Community High School graduate Claire Hunter, 19, and ZCHS freshman Max Hunter. Pat is the director of planning at Flanner and Buchanan Funeral Home in Zionsville, and Sam is a surveyor for Weihe Engineers. They celebrated their 23-year-anniversary on Dec. 22.

When asked why Sam makes a good partner Pat said he is even-keeled, slow and steady. She said he is a fun husband and a great father, and that going to church every Sunday at Advent Lutheran has strengthened their relationship and family.

Sam, who described Pat as “genuine,” said “there is absolutely no pretense about her.” He added, “I have met no women like Pat in my life.” He said he has felt comfortable with her since the night he called her.

When asked for his advice on marriage he said “You need to consider what that person is going to be like 20 years from now.”

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.