By the time McDonald’s introduced the “I’m Lovin’ It” campaign in 2003, John and Jerry Carroll had already been married for 57 years
Credit: getty; Justin Sullivan/Gett
NEED TO KNOW
- John and Jerry Carroll, who recently celebrated their 80th wedding anniversary, go to their local McDonald’s every Friday
- “Congratulations to the Carrolls 80 years & counting,” reads the bright yellow pylon sign under the Golden Arches at the McDonald’s that the couple frequents in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
- The location’s general manager gushed about the couple, saying, “We just love them”
Ba, da, ba, ba, ba, one longtime couple is still lovin’ it after all these years.
Centenarians John and Jerry Carroll, who marked their 80th wedding anniversary in April and Jerry’s 100th birthday in June, go to their local McDonald’s in Tennessee every Friday and order the same menu item.
“For breakfast, we usually eat the egg McMuffin with sausage,” John, a 101-year-old World War II veteran, told local news outlet NewsChannel5 of what they order at the McDonald’s in Murfreesboro when they meet up with a group of friends for their weekly fast-food outing.
On the bright yellow pylon sign under the restaurant’s Golden Arches — the familiar McDonald’s logo introduced in 1953, seven years after the Carrolls wed in 1946 — employees customized it to read in all capital letters, “Congratulations to the Carrolls 80 years & counting.”
Christina Crisp, the general manager at the Murfreesboro location, told NewsChannel5, “We just love them. They’ve been here for a long time.”
To put in perspective how long they’ve been husband and wife, by the time McDonald’s introduced the “I’m Lovin’ It” brand campaign and song in 2003, the Carrolls had already been married for 57 years.
The couple’s grandson, John Carroll, penned a heartfelt Facebook tribute to the centenarians when they marked eight decades of marriage in April.
“Just months after World War II ended, a young couple in Tennessee said ‘I do,’ ” he wrote. “John S. Carroll and Gerald Lena ‘Jerry’ Carroll had no idea their marriage would span eight decades — through cultural revolutions, technological transformation, and generations of family.”
Credit: John Carl D’Annibale/Albany Times Union via Getty
He added, “But the real legacy isn’t just the years. It’s what those years built. Three children. Seven grandchildren. Twenty-one great-grandchildren. One great-great-grandchild. A living legacy stretching across generations.”
The proud grandson also summarized their impact on the world.
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“Their lives have been marked not just by longevity, but by service — decades in their community, involvement in church, civic leadership, and a reputation for steady, quiet faithfulness,” he continued.
“In a culture often focused on what’s breaking, their story reminds us what can last,” he concluded. “Eighty years ago, they made a promise. And somehow, through everything, they kept it.”
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