First couple married in Beck Chapel celebrates 50 year anniversary

Imagine an empty Beck Chapel without stained-glass windows or pews. Fifty years ago the chapel was exactly that.\nToday, William and Mary Crandall are celebrating 50 years together. Feb. 22, 1957, marks the date the Beck Chapel, located east of the Indiana Memorial Union and north of Ballantine Hall, held its first wedding service. The couple was married in the Chapel when it was still being built, and there were neither windows nor pews in the Chapel. \nBoth William and Mary said they were adamant about getting married quickly. They knew they liked the Chapel and didn’t feel the need to wait for the constructions to be completed. “We knew it was right, so we did it,” Mary said.\n“We wanted a quiet and simple wedding,” William added.\nThis first service had only five people in attendance: William, Mary, the reverend, the best man and maid of honor.\nMary explained that she and her husband chose the Beck Chapel because of its small size and close location on the IU campus. The Crandalls are both Indiana natives and William is a graduate of IU’s School of Journalism while Mary is a Ball State alumna. \nMary said she and her husband enjoyed living in Bloomington when they were younger.\n“I remember Nick’s like I was there was just yesterday,” Mary said. \nWilliam, a former assistant editor for the Indiana Daily Student, said Ernie Pyle Hall hasn’t changed a bit.\nThe couple returned to campus at the beginning of February to commemorate their upcoming anniversary and stroll through town.