Marquette love stories
By: Marquette University
Tags: Love, Milwaukee, Marquette, Valentines Day, College

Kalyn (Business ’13) and I (Engineering ’11) met in ROTC. This is where I asked her to a military ball. From that point our relationship grew. I would commission that year and go off to serve in the Army, but our relationship never wavered. Spending months apart we met anytime that we could travel. After Kalyn commissioned, we were fortunate to be stationed at Fort Campbell, KY together. A deployment separated us again by distance on a map, not in our hearts. Later that year we were married at Old St Mary in Milwaukee December 27, 2014. — Jason Richmond

My boyfriend, Paul Renner, and I met his first year of dental school. I was getting ready to graduate from the CON and they had asked some of the nursing students to take a small job as fake patients so the first year dental students. We had seen each other in passing throughout the semester but it wasn’t until their final test where they had to interview us, “the fake patients” that we actually spoke to each other. I was his fake patient and I had to nod and smile as he awkwardly navigated his way through the questionnaire. He found me waiting for a friend after the exam was over and asked me how he did and I said he did alright, although truthfully it was pretty awkward. He asked me out for coffee and we’ve been together for almost 3 years! He’s graduating this may and I’ve been working as an RN in Milwaukee for the past two years and I’m thankful that it was MU that brought us together. — Regina Rubio

Kyle Oren and I met at Marquette back in 2009 through mutual friends and a friendly game of beer pong. Although just acquaintances in college, we re-connected in Chicago years later and just got married this past August! — Andrea Oren

My parents Monica and Dan Tighe met sophomore year at Schroeder Hall in 1978… my dad was on the hockey team and had recently sprained his ankle, rolling up to the dining hall on crutches. My mom’s roommate and best friend — knowing that my mom had a huge crush on my dad — sprinted up to the 7th floor to tell her that he was in need of some medical attention from a nursing student (my mom!). Needless to say, my dad totally fell for it! Happily married for 34 years! — Claire Tighe

Nick Goodwin and I met in April of 2009 at the end of the semester. We met at a party and he took me on our first date after doing Hunger Clean-Up during the day. While in school, we would to Raynor and walk past the Joan of Arc Chapel. We got married this past October 2016 and we had to capture a photo with the chapel. Thanks Marquette. — Shannon Hayes Goodwin

My husband, Scott Luke, and I met October of freshman year (2008)at a movie night on the nursing floor of Cobeen hall. A few weeks later, he asked me to the Navy fall ball and we never looked back! We got married in July of 2014. Our future golden eagle was born in October of 2015. — Meg Luke

I met my wife Anna about an hour before Sunday’s 10pm Mass started in the Chapel of the Holy Family. I had been playing guitar for that Mass and we had a new violin player joining us for the first time. Little did I know we would end up getting married! We playing music together at both the Sunday night Mass with Fr. Thon and the Tuesday Night Mass with Fr. Naus for more than 2 years. Fr. Thon officiated our wedding, as well. We will be married for two years this summer! — Philip LaRosa

I met my wife Janice in the spring of 2006 at a party on 20th street. However, if you ask her we met at Raynor. I guess you could confuse a late night at Raynor with a party depending on the day. This is our first Valentine’s Day as a married couple. We were married October 23, 2016. We were joined by three other MU alumni as well. Lenzy Crawford was my best man (class of ‘08) and two more groomsmen Corey Smith (class of ‘08) and Avery Hall (class of ‘09) I graduated in 2009 and she finished her DPT in 2011. We now reside in Houston. — Terrence Miller

Ryan and I met our freshman year at Marquette and started dating sophomore year when we both lived in Schroeder. Just a few weeks ago Ryan asked me to marry him while ice skating at Maggie Daley Park in Chicago! — Lauren Krawczyk

Jacob Schlindwein (Health Sciences ’13, Dental ’16) and I met our junior year through my roommate. We were married on November 5, 2016 in Milwaukee surrounded by many fellow MU alums. The day wasn’t complete without a stop at Marquette — a place very near and dear to our hearts! — Lexi Schlindwein

I met my husband as a freshmen in 1975. By the time we graduated he was the assistant hall director at McCormick Hall and I was an RA at O’Donnell. Sappy, right? Married in 1979, still making the trek to Marquette basketball games together. — Ana-Maria Roback-Troast

My fiancé and I met at Marquette in 2011 through my older sister and his fraternity brother. Our first date was Valentine’s Day 2012. Both College of Ed grads, Greek Presidents (SigEp and Sigma Kappa), engaged the summer after graduation at Disney World and getting married 7/1/17 at Gesu, how Marquette. — Sarah Pawlowski

My husband and I met at a TGIF at the Student Union in 1965. Building no longer exists. He asked me to dance and the first thing he said to me was “Will you marry me?” Three years later we married and have been married for soon to be 49 years. — Paulette Joswick

We first met in Abbottsford and began talking May 8th 2014. Our first date was May 31st 2014 at Miller Park. We became official bf and gf July 4th, 2014. — Enrique Torruco

Sandy Patyk and I met at Marquette University in 1988, fast-forward to 1999 we ran into each other at the Diederich College of Comm Alumni Association 50th anniversary dinner and have been together ever since. — Mike Jakubowski

Dave Marran and I met in the basement of Johnston Hall in April 1984, after both landing assistant editor positions at the Trib. A list of new staff members showed that we shared the same birthday, so I asked around until I found out who he was. We quickly became friends and after countless hours in the publication offices, following our favorite sports teams, battling statistics class, and walking Wisconsin Avenue together, we fell in love, and got married Sept. 26, 1987. We’ve rarely been apart since, and are forever grateful that Marquette brought us together. — Laura Veras Marran

Our story began in March 2013 with the Marquette Action Program. Before the service trip that would bring us together, our randomly assigned group of 12 met to get organized. Olivia was immediately drawn to Jack’s gorgeous blue eyes and quiet, warm smile, while Jack first noticed Olivia’s simple beauty and outgoing personality. We set out to South Dakota with our MAP group, and bonded quickly over the irony of spending our “spring break” road trip driving through a freak snowstorm. We were both kind of amazed how we never ran out of things to talk about through hours of building fences, re-painting a parish center and driving from site to site that week. When we arrived back to Milwaukee, we met for coffee, the next week dinner at Schroeder, and became “official” after a few more study dates at Engineering Hall. Since then, we have continued exploring our shared interests, which include hiking, and Milwaukee food. We love telling our MU love story and are overjoyed to become husband and wife in August! — Olivia Knier

My girlfriend and I met during our student teaching seminar at Marquette. We have lived and worked as teachers in Milwaukee ever since. This April is our 7th anniversary. We are MU proud! — Gianna Macchia

My husband, Greg Zimmerman, and I met at Marquette through Greek Life. We knew of each other yet never spoke while at Marquette, graduated in 2000 and went our separate ways. Through mutual friends, we reconnected in 2006 at a basketball game and began dating later that spring. We finally got married in May 2014 with 45 alumni in attendance. Who knew? #ahoyalove — Stephanie Plancich

Ben Weiler and I met at Pat McCurdy concert during freshman orientation in 1997. Started dating in 1998. Married in 2003. — Stephanie Searing Weiler

I was a chemistry major and Chris Morales was a biology major. He snagged a part-time gig in the chemistry department his last semester of undergrad (my junior year). I was supposed to train and supervise him — we’ve been dating for 5+ years. We recently moved to sunny Cali together for opportunities and grad school, & are figuring out the next steps. If you could cut back on the student loans, that would be swell. — Nicole Cunningham

I met Stephanie Altepeter at a party before a basketball game during both of our senior year in November 2007. I proposed in front of Joan of Arc in 2013 and we got married at Gesu in 2015. — Andrew Altepeter

My husband Mathias Kopitzke and I met freshman year in 2011! We both lived in Abbottsford and were on the same team for the aMUsing Race/Mission Impossible scavenger hunt where all the dorms compete against each other! We got married on Marquette’s campus in July 2016! — Brittany Kopitzke

Met my fiancé Michael Cianciolo while at school working at MUTV. We are getting married at Gesu in September! — Francesca Regina Reed

My husband TJ and I lived a floor apart for the first two years at Marquette. We must have had the very same class schedule, because we constantly found ourselves on the same elevator nearly every day. Neither of us ever made small talk on the elevator but when we found ourselves at the same party one night, TJ came up and introduced himself because he “felt like he should know” me since we always shared the same elevator. After that night we would make small talk every time we ran into each other on the elevator or the Cafeteria. We finally made plans to hang out (after a few failed attempts due to TJ’s demanding O-Chem class) and we basically were inseparable ever since. The first night we spent time together, I met about 7 of my husbands close friends, 4 of them later stood up in our wedding 4 years later. We’ve been married for almost 4.5 years and have two beautiful boys who we are grooming to be big Marquette fans. Our 18 month old loves nothing more than cheering along to the Marquette fight song. Most of our closest friends today are friends and TJ’s former teammates from Marquette. Marquette helped us not only find each other, but it also helped us to find friends who we are now blessed to call family! Thanks Marquette!! — Cara Hodgson

My fiance (Charles McCloughan) and I met in the spring of 2010. He had studied abroad in Galway, Ireland and I was about to go for a summer program. A mutual friend introduced us and he gave me lots of tips of my trip. We are getting married in June! — Kelly Boylan

Nicholas and I met in 2009 at Marquette and were married in 2015! We just had our first daughter and take her to many MU games! Our story of how we met can be read here. — Kimberlee Karnowski

If it weren’t for MU and the great friends we met there that set us up 4 years ago, we never would’ve met! — Kathleen Fugler

Andrew Seifert met in 2011 while we were both working post graduation in Zilber. Married Nov 2016. — Louisa Walker

James and I met at a party in Campus Town our freshman year, and we’ve been together ever since. We graduated Class of 2015, James from the College of Arts and Sciences, and Rachel from the College of Nursing. We were married in Cedar Rapids on November 19, 2016. There were several MU alumni present, including Rachel’s Mom’s roommates from MU Class of 1986. We are currently living in Colorado Springs, CO, and James is deployed to Europe with the US Army. — Rachel Zastrow

My husband and I were both from Oregon and went to rival high schools (one of the very first photos my dad took of me as a cheerleader has Evan in the background playing for the other team). We didn’t meet until we were in the ADPR program at MU. We started dating 2/21/92 (25 years ago!) and were married 8/30/96 at Gesu. Professor Carl Shrank still likes to take credit for us being together! ❤ — Rebecca Roberts

My husband and I met October 1995 and after a few years of studying and fun we started dating October 1998. After he battled leukemia in 2000, we were married in February 2002. From love, 3 little miracles entered our family and the rest is history. — Anne Stratton-Brantman

Dan and Hope met through a mutual friend after college. How many times they must have crossed paths during their time at Marquette, with Dan graduating Bus Ad ’11 and Hope graduating Nursing ‘13! They hit it off immediately and after a few years of dating, were engaged at St. Joan of Arc Chapel in September 2016. They will be married June 17th, 2017, and can’t wait for many visits back to Marquette! — Dan Kowalsky

Berent and I met freshman year at Marquette (well, really at Victor’s) and have been doing long distance since we graduated in May 2015. We both love Marquette and can’t wait to come back for national Marquette Day! 💙💛 — Kelsey Schanke

We met just before she graduated and I was about to leave for graduate school in Chicago. Crazy it took that long because we must have had 50 friends in common during our MU days. As one of those good friends recently said to me, ‘Glow, you left with the best one.” Yep. — John Glowinski

Ted and I met in a Marquette Business class in 2010 that took a trip to China over spring break. Ted was commissioned as an officer in the United States Marine Corps in 2012 after completing the NROTC program at Marquette. He is now a Captain in the Marines and flies attack helicopters. We got engaged in front of the Saint Joan of Arc chapel in May 2014 and were married in December 2015 in our hometown of Milwaukee with many other Marquette grads. We are stationed in San Diego, California but Ted is currently deployed to Okinawa, Japan. I will be visiting Ted in Japan next week, almost 7 years after we took that first trip to Asia together. Thank you, Marquette, for being the backdrop to our love story. — Lindsay (Duclon) Linn

Paul Bunczak and I met at the honors’ program picnic in August of 1988, though we didn’t start dating until fall of 1991. We got married in 1993 and now our daughter, Maria, is a freshman at MU, also in the honors program. — Julie Karpinski Bunczak

Joe Packhem and I met at Marquette in 2010 through our participation in theatre. Joe, a junior majoring in Engineering with a theatre minor, was debuting in his one and only mainstage production at the Helfaer. I, a freshman College of Communication student, was blessed with the task of applying and removing Joe’s wig. As we all do with our hair stylists, Joe shared his life story with me over the two week run of the show. Fast forward six years, and we have been married for four months now! — Lexi Hamburg

My husband, Chad Tutton, and I met at Marquette in 2010 where we both were a part of Navy ROTC. After that first year of meeting and getting to know each other most of our relationship was long distance due to being stationed in different parts of the country, but we were married this past year in September! Finally together for good in San Diego — Jenni Tutton

My girlfriend, Nicole Murnik, and I at Hanging Lakes in Colorado. We’ve been dating since Fall Semester 2013. We met at a house party at The Mansion. — Andrew Terenzio

Joe Landgraf and I met the summer of 2012 working “summer crew” helping to get the dorms back in shape over the summer for the next fall and hosting the summer guests at Marquette. We got Married last fall! — Lisa Landgraf

I met Amy Weigelmann at the 2011 Snowball during Winter Flurry week. We were both in our freshman year and we started officially dating on Valentine’s Day 2011. After we got our our post-college careers started, we got engaged in December 2015 and she moved to New York in January 2016. — Kevin Dolan

Engagement outside the AMU

My husband and I (College of Business, 2012) met outside of the AMU on our way to church. We ended up coincidentally having three classes together the next semester and spent tons of time in Raynor and MU Basketball games getting to know each other. After a year of friendship and two years of courtship, he proposed in the same place we met outside of the AMU on the same weekend in October! We’ve been married almost four years and just had our first baby! — Emily Winter

My husband Joe and I are from the classes of exercise physiology 2014 and nursing 2015. We were both in Army ROTC, and we met my freshman year. We had our first date at “My Yo My” frozen yogurt shop in the third ward. We just got married on Saturday, February 11th 2017 at the cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist in Milwaukee, and had our reception at the Pfister! These pictures were taken during a quick stop at good old Caffrey’s pub! We are both stationed at Joint Base Lewis McChord in Washington State! — Kate Lemens

Met freshman year in McCormick in 2006… married August 2016. — Maggie Grigaitis

Paul LaRosa and I met through mutual friends early in our MU years but didn’t start dating till the summer before senior year. We had our first kiss outside Lalumiere Hall and have been married 32 years. Our oldest daughter graduated from Marquette and is getting married this year! — Lynne LaRosa

She came down the stairs at a Triangle Fraternity Welcome Week Social in 1962 and caught my eye. Dates, Pinning, Married in 65, 52nd Anniversary last year and started a “Grand Eaglet” in her freshman year last August. — Steve Volm

I met my significant other while at school there! The year was 2002, my freshman year, and it was one of those “love at first sight” moments. It was a special year, and ever since then I’ve been married to Marquette Men’s Basketball. Sure like any other couple we have our disagreements and down times, but she will always be the love of my life. For better or worse, richer or poorer, till death do us part, nothing can replace her. — Armen Saryan