ALGER AND JOSEPHINE OSTER CELEBRATE 65 YEARS OF MARRIAGE

by Kae Borrero
Alger and Josephine Oster, warmly known as Al and Jo, celebrated their 65th anniversary with a Caribbean cruise. Both were born in Colorado and attended Campion Academy where they met. One year after graduating, they were married in Sterling, Colo., on June 12, 1949.
After working on a farm for two years, Al became assistant manager of the Broom Factory at Campion Academy, and Jo was secretary for two principals and a registrar. In 1956, they moved to Newbury Park Academy in California for Al to manage the Broom Factory. Jo became the academy nurse with mentoring from a local Adventist doctor and also served as secretary for the Broom Factory.
In 1963, Al received a call to manage the Broom Factory at Atlantic Union College in Massachusetts. A few months later, the factory burned to the ground. He found a way to keep production up while designing and building a new factory that also housed a bindery. Sales grew and, for several years, they ran three shifts which gave ample opportunity for students to work and pay their school fees. Jo worked for Atlantic Union Conference as an executive secretary for the education department and for three presidents.
In 1972, she teamed with Al to manage the factory office when they took ownership of the Broom Factory for the next 22 years. After serving faithfully at the Broom Factory from 1963 to 1994, the Osters retired to The Villages between Leesburg and Ocala.
They have three children, Kae, Larry, and Terry; 12 grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.