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| Love, Laughter and Happily Ever After |
First impressions count, so it’s fortunate Greta (Winkeljohn) Smogor (BSN ’19) had Bailey Sutton as a Saint Francis roommate when Greta’s future husband Austin (BS ’19) came to visit her room at Clare Hall.
“I had texted Bailey and said, ‘Is it OK if he comes over?’” Greta said. “She said, ‘Yes, I picked up a little.’ That night, Austin made the comment that he could never date or marry someone messy. I thought I might be out. Bailey is a neat freak, like him. I am not.”
So, more than two years into a marriage that now includes daughter Lydia, has Greta become more of a neat freak? “I pick up quite a bit,” Austin said. “It’s a good thing she’s so much fun, a fantastic cook and a great mother.”
The couple laughs easily about their differences because they know they have plenty in common. Austin, from Greenwood, Indiana, played offensive line on the Saint Francis football team and Greta, from Fort Wayne, played basketball. They bonded in part over the challenges of handling athletics with the rigors of their majors—Austin in risk management and insurance and Greta in nursing. “I think athletes attract each other, knowing how you have to balance schedules and things like that,” Austin said. “We had two sides of the spectrum in academics—she was stellar, I was not so much. She helped keep me in line and I’m sure the coaches appreciated that.”
They became friends as freshmen and started dating as sophomores. Eventually, Austin helped recruit Greta’s brother, Peter Winkeljohn, to play football for the Cougars. Peter drew big laughs from teammates as a freshman at his first team meeting by saying, “I’m Peter Winkeljohn, I went to Bishop Dwenger and, yes, ‘Smogez’ dates my sister.” Another fun sports connection: Austin’s good friend from high school, Alex Woods, also played offensive line for the Cougars and married a Saint Francis basketball player, Josie Murphy.
Austin and Greta point to the 2016 NAIA football national championship game in Daytona, Florida, as a favorite undergraduate memory. Greta and the women’s basketball team drove nonstop after a 6 a.m. practice on Friday, cheered and celebrated on Saturday night/Sunday morning and drove straight back to Monday morning practice.
“That weekend in Daytona was so much fun, having her and her family there, and the whole basketball team,” Austin said. “We had the time of our lives.”
For his marriage proposal after they graduated, Austin arranged for a nostalgic walk on campus. He placed the ring in a gift bag near Brookside and arranged for Sutton to hide behind the statue of St. Francis with her camera. “I knew I had to tie Saint Francis into the proposal since that’s where we met,” Austin said.
“We were going to Boston later that fall, and he had dropped hints, so I thought we were going to get engaged in Boston,” Greta said. “It was a really nice proposal, and I was surprised.”
They married on Jan. 22, 2022, and welcomed Lydia in May 2023. Greta is a nurse in the trauma intensive care unit at Lutheran Hospital. “I really like taking care of sick people, hopefully helping them get better and being there for their families,” she said. Austin is a client executive with Hylant. “I work with business owners, and I enjoy meeting different-minded people,” he said. “My big task is new business and new accounts.”
The Smogors embrace parenthood and all the joys and challenges. “It’s been amazing,” Greta said. “Lydia’s starting to be so funny.” Austin agreed: “Parenting pushes you to your limits, but it’s good. It’s a blessing.”
The couple closed on their home the day after Austin’s proposal and can’t say enough about their daughter, two dogs, rewarding marriage and fulfilling careers.
Austin smiled as he reflected. “We’ve got a white picket fence, too.”
This story and more can be found in the Fall 2024 Saint Francis magazine.
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