When Jack and Anne began building a large family with the last name of Partridge, they knew they’d be destined to hear all the quips……”It’s the Partridge Family!”, or riffs on the Twelve Days of Christmas, “There’s more than one Partridge in a pear tree!” Perhaps even comparisons to the Partridge bird species, as they have the biggest family or “coveys” of most any bird around. Jokes aside, Jack and Anne Partridge have created a lovely family, representing three generations of Muirfield residents.

Rewinding a bit, it was 1980 when Anne and Jack met in Pittsburgh, PA.

Anne arrived from her hometown of Baltimore, MD. After graduation from Towson State University, Anne taught for a few years before switching careers to become a U.S. postal inspector. Career-oriented and eager for the opportunity, she followed her assignment to Pittsburgh. Anne helped blaze a trail as one of only 17 female postal inspectors nationwide. Just as Anne was beginning to give up on finding a husband, she met Jack. Jack, a graduate of Ithaca college, was also relocated to Pittsburgh by his company, Columbia Gas. Jack also shared that he wasn’t exactly seeking out a steady girlfriend, but when they met at a crime prevention/lobbying event, they both knew it was a meaningful connection. Jack would remain at Columbia Gas/NiSource for his entire career until he retired in 2016, but that jumps the story too far ahead. 

Back in PA, Jack was reassigned to work in Harrisburg, PA. It was then that Jack and Anne found themselves at a crossroad because Anne was offered a position in New York City with the Inspection Service. While it was intriguing, Anne decided that it was the right time to resign and focus on starting a family - which took longer than they’d planned. When they finally received the news that Anne was expecting, Jack and Anne were as ready as any new parents could be when their daughter, Mary, was born in July 1988. They were less prepared for what happened next. Nine months after having Mary, Anne learned she was pregnant again. Early in the pregnancy, Anne called Jack at his office from her doctor’s appointment, her excitement hinting that big news was awaiting him. On the way to the hospital, Jack guessed it might be twins. Instead, they learned that Anne was carrying triplets! Jack nearly fainted at the thought of parenting four children under 2 years old; Anne, accustomed to being from a big family, was less alarmed. 

Several months later, three baby girls were born just seconds apart from one another and were determined to be identical - a one in a million chance of that happening! When the triplets were nearly 2 years old and Mary, just 3 1/2, Jack learned that he was being relocated to Columbia Gas headquarters in Columbus, OH. In 1989, during a blizzard, Anne and Jack moved their family to Dublin, settling into a home in the Crossgate neighborhood in Muirfield Village. Then years later, the house began to feel small, and Anne desired more land. Jack, who loved Dublin and wanted to stay in Muirfield, was hesitant to look elsewhere but remained open-minded as Anne explored Granville. Then she toured a listing on Whittingham     Drive and immediately knew it was a great house for them. Jack was thrilled - not only were they staying in Muirfield, this home sat on the Memorial Tournament course. 

With this move in 1998, their family became firmly rooted in Dublin.

The Partridges had become faithful parishioners at St. Brigid of Kildare. The girls attended school there before moving on to high school at Bishop Watterson. There, Mary played on the tennis team and Ellen, Lauren and Karen played field hockey. It was during high school that the triplets engaged in the majority of their “triplet pranks”. Identical triplets share the same DNA, so in addition to their looks, they also share mannerisms and expressions - enabling them to have fooled anyone, including friends, teachers and even boyfriends! The girls used colored hair scrunches to help their coaches and teammates tell them apart. 

Life with the Partridge family is always entertaining. Even when it is just their nuclear family, they have a built-in party. But with all four girls in the same school and the family active in their church, it was seldom just their family around. During the Memorial Tournament, Jack and Anne often joked that their backyard hosted the whole Watterson football team. Their house drew the attention of golfers like Sergio Garcia, who stopped by during rain delays and once took the girls to dinner. 

Mary was the first to graduate and head to Miami University, where she joined Kappa Alpha Theta and settled easily into campus life. Ellen, Lauren and Karen followed, attending Miami and joining the same sorority. Growing up as the only non-triplet, Mary admitted it was hard not to feel left out at times. In college, though, the roles flipped - the triplets often heard, “Are you one of Mary’s sisters?” Mary laughed that being the oldest made their dynamics much easier than if she had been the youngest. 

Upon graduation, the girls went their separate ways and moved around a bit but it did not take long for them to return to the Columbus area. Their family of six grew quickly as each daughter found her partner. Jack and Anne welcomed their four son-in-laws with open arms. Mary married Will Crall, a former Ohio State football player and the two settled in Bexley where Will grew up. The triplets each found homes in Muirfield Village: Karen married Brian DeLucia, a former Ohio State baseball player and Ellen married one of Brian’s teammates, Chris Macke. Lauren married Jared Boll, a former Columbus Blue Jacket. The triplets and their families now enjoy the same Muirfield lifestyle they grew up with - swimming at the pools, enjoying the playgrounds and trails and trick-or-treating with neighbors. Mary is a frequent visitor, and her sisters and their neighbors enjoy many nostalgic experiences together.

As the girls were experiencing these exciting life events, Jack and Anne faced the reality of life as empty nesters. With Jack’s retirement in 2016, they were ready to say goodbye to their second Muirfield home (which they happened to sell to another family with triplets) and downsize to a third. Then, in an unexpected twist, the Muirfield property they had long dreamed of for retirement came on the market. Jack and Anne seized the opportunity and moved into their fourth home in Muirfield, which will likely be their last. 

One other move Jack and Anne made was to begin spending some of the colder days of the year in Florida. Anne was quick to add that while the warmer weather is nice, it competes with the draw of 10 grandchildren and six grand-dogs in Ohio. Karen was the first of the sisters to have a child - a boy born on Grandpop Jack’s birthday! Jack acknowledged that their desire to see family keeps them in Dublin more than the average snowbirds. 

Through all the changes over the years, one thing about the Partridges has never shifted - they know how to have fun together, especially when karaoke is involved. Ellen laughed that she and her sisters cannot resist belting out their go-to anthem, “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” by Celine Dion, their collective idol. Jack teased that they can’t exactly carry a tune, but that has never once stopped them and they often create the choreography to match. During the pandemic, the girls even recorded a kid friendly TIK TOK-style video for Karen’s students at St. Brigid, dressed head to toe as sharks while dancing to “Baby Shark”. It went over well at school but certainly never made the top ten, said Anne. 

It’s only fitting that Partridge birds are known for staying close to the place where they hatched. Social creatures by nature, they often have 20 or more birds in their coveys. Humor, heart and closeness have shaped Jack and Anne Partridge’s flock. And now that they have added grandchildren to the covey, the laughter - and music - will continue to grow.