How Sally and Jack made their own slice of Camelot in Oxford

It’s 1961, and Jack and Sally just got married. No more Sally Reed; it’s Southard now.

To celebrate their first Christmas together, Jack’s father has sent the couple on a trip to New York City. The Broadway musical “Camelot” is less than a year old, and Jack and Sally have to see it. Julie Andrews is starring with Richard Burton.

In one song, Burton sings of the qualities that make Camelot perfect. It never rains until sundown, and winter always comes and goes on time. “In short there’s simply not a more congenial spot / For happ’ly ever aftering than here.”

The show ends, and the newly married couple leaves the theater. Later, Jack asks Sally a question that’s been on his mind since the musical. They have a whole life and relationship ahead of them. If they could spend that time together anywhere, where would their happily ever after be?

Sally met Jack during her first year at Miami University in Oxford in 1957. She fell in love with two things that year: Jack, and the town.

Her own Camelot is easy. It’s Oxford.

A lifetime together

Photo by Sean Scott | The Miami Student
The Southards have devoted more time to traveling as they've gotten older. They've visited 50 countries together, displayed in photos on their wall.

When Jack came to Miami in 1954, he decided to major in physics. It wasn’t exactly what he wanted to do in life, but he had reasons all the same.

“It was the hardest thing I thought I could possibly do,” he joked. “I learned that’s not the case. I could’ve gone into music or something.”

Jack became an active member in the Presbyterian Church while at Miami. In 1957, he would meet the love of his life at a church event.

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It was Sally’s first year, and she was an English major. When she showed up at a church event, Jack says he was immediately impressed with her. Sally couldn’t help but notice him, either; he was president of the club, and he quickly made himself known.

“I was delighted with an invitation to walk home with Jack,” Sally said. “That was frequently the way in which dating started.”

Jack went on vacation to Florida with Sally’s family on spring break, and when they returned to campus, Jack’s fraternity serenaded Sally. By March, Jack says, they were “pinned,” but it would take another three years to get married.

The Southards have lived many lives since then. Jack got a master’s degree in psychology and began working with early computers in Columbus, evaluating the threats new technologies posed for the military. He jokes that if he wanted to be boastful, he would say his team’s work likely prevented World War III.

They welcomed their first two children before Jack took an opportunity to manage Miami’s computer systems in 1966, moving their growing family back to his and Sally’s Camelot. It ended up being a nearly 40-year career of digitizing Miami’s records, creating the degree audit report system (DARS) that is now used around the world, and more.

After they welcomed their third child and the family grew up, Sally ran for office. Her 25-year political career took her from Oxford City Council and Talawanda School Board to the state Board of Education. She even ran for Congress for a short time in 1990.

Jack ended his career at Miami in 2002, and Sally has long since stepped away from public office. Neither one of them has slowed down in the decades since, though.

“I haven’t quite figured out when I’m going to retire,” Jack said.

He serves on the finance committees for both Holy Trinity Episcopalian Church and the Oxford Community Arts Center (OCAC), a local organization that he and Sally support with both time and money. He goes to weekly meetings for the Rotary Club, as well. Sally has taken on pastoral care for Holy Trinity at The Knolls, coordinating weekly worship services and visiting residents in between.

Sally has known Jack for more than 65 years. They’ve often disagreed in that time, but they’ve never stopped loving each other. For her, two of the greatest joys of the past six decades have been Jack’s humor and his support.

“I’m afraid I’m generally a serious person, and I need laughter,” Sally said. “For me, too, it’s been very important to be able to try my wings as I did for 25 years with enormous support, and that would have been not only financial but emotional support from Jack. Whatever success I would’ve had was only because Jack was there, really making the difference.”

Jack likewise gets his strength from Sally.

“If left alone, I’m more laid-back in the sense of, life goes on and doing things that I would be interested in doing,” Jack said. “Sally has been the person in my life that’s really essentially challenged me to do things that I’m capable of doing and encouraged me to be a better person for other people as well as for myself.”

The 63rd Christmas

Photo by Sean Scott | The Miami Student
Jack Southard points to letters on his wall from a Christmas years ago. The Southards save every Christmas letter from their family to frame each year.

This year, the Southards will celebrate their 63rd Christmas together, decades after a Christmas show in New York convinced them to settle in Oxford.

Poinsettias line the entry to their home in The Knolls, and Sally will deliver them to several other residents in the area. On the dining room table, boxes of decorations sit ready to be put up, just as soon as Jack and Sally have the time.

Dozens of framed letters hang on the walls between the Southards’ kitchen and garage, notes from Christmases past. It reminds them of how their family has grown and changed over the years. Jack points out the transition from handwritten notes to typed letters from their children.

In their closet, Sally has a book labeled “Christmas planning.” Her family is more spread out than it was in the ’60s and ’70s, and it takes more thought to keep everyone involved. This year, all of her loved ones are getting original pieces from the Oxford Community Art Center.

Photo by Sean Scott | The Miami Student
One of Sally Southard's Christmas tasks is to deliver poinsettias to other residents of The Knolls.

Jack and Sally will celebrate Christmas with their eldest daughter, Stephanie, this year, first with a church service at Holy Trinity on Christmas Eve, and then opening gifts one at a time on Christmas day.

The Southards will celebrate with friends, too. Last Monday, they had a Christmas happy hour at The Knolls. Dozens of residents gathered at the clubhouse to share food and laughs before directing their attention to the front of the room for Christmas karaoke. Sally sat with another resident, her adviser from her own college years.

Jack let a few other people sing first before leading his own rendition of “We Three Kings.” The crowd joins in, laughing as the backing track rushes them all through the song.

When happy hour ends, Sally sticks around, but Jack has to go — there’s a finance meeting at the church. He graduated college nearly seven decades ago and left his job at Miami more than two decades ago, but he’s not retired yet.

scottsr2@miamioh.edu