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Love connections
Illustrations by
marla campbell
 Did you spot her sitting rows away in Western Civ? Or chat him up in the cafeteria line at Schroeder Hall? Or melt when she sent a flirtatious smile your way at a crowded party? The college years are ripe for romance, and those campus connections can lead to lifelong bliss. With 14 percent of alumni married to fellow Marquetters, it’s time to celebrate some of those unforgettable first moments.
Prank turns to love
I was a sophomore living at Cobeen in 1966 and 1967, and my friend and I were campused (we had curfews and both signed in late the previous weekend) so we were trying to wile away a perfectly good Saturday night — without studying.
We went to all our friends’ rooms — no one locked their doors — and gathered all the dorm-issued trash cans and filled them with water. Then we lined them up by my window. My room overlooked 11th Street — a perfect location. It took hours to perfect our timing but when all the boys came to bring their dates home and kiss them goodnight, we opened the windows and dumped trash can after trash can of water on their heads. We soaked everyone!
We laughed hysterically, but needless to say we were immediately caught by furious security and residence hall officials. We were then “campused” for two more Saturday nights. Surprisingly, none of our friends were mad at us.
But later that week a junior, Greg Ryberg, came up and introduced himself and asked me to a basketball game. He said he was one of the guys we dumped water on, and he had been looking for me ever since. He was intrigued, he said, and thought “it may be safer to be your date.”
We got married two years later in December 1968. It has been pretty darn spectacular ever since.
— Betty Denkewalter Ryberg, Arts ’69, married to Greg Ryberg, Arts ’68
Heart-stopping smile
 Move in day. College. My brain was swirling with blurry expectations. I was dizzy with excitement. ... The afternoon was spent meeting the guys on my floor; guys from all over the country all equally dizzy and ready to burst. We decided to venture down to the second floor, a girl’s floor, to see how their move-in day was going.
They seemed more timid but equally excited. I saw a sea of faces, eyes wide with bewilderment and anticipation. Some doors closed, most stayed open and I saw her sitting on the floor in a circle of girls who appeared to be at a middle school slumber party. ...
She looked right up at me with her soft brown eyes and smiled the purest smile I’d ever seen. So sincere. So disarming. So beautiful. I knew. At that instant everything else in my cluttered consciousness fell away. The noise and blur of the day transformed into one perfectly clear moment as we introduced ourselves and smiled and laughed. And kept on looking at each other. And laughing. And smiling.
This summer we celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary as well as the birth of our fourth beautiful child. We are still looking at each other; learning and experiencing each other and life. And laughing and smiling more than ever.
— Liam Lawrence, Arts ’94, married to Maureen (Waters) Lawrence, Arts ’94
Meeting Mr. Persistence
We met on a Sunday afternoon during a picture-taking session for the MU yearbook. Tom was “crashing” every picture because he had a bet with a frat brother that he could get his picture in more times than Chuck. When he joined the Fox River Valley Club ranks for picture taking, I objected, and he was thrown out.
After that inauspicious beginning, he began to sit with me at lunch in the Union. After a few get-acquainted lunches, he asked me for a date. I already had plans for that evening with my roommate and the girls in the dorm room next door. Tom suggested that I change my plans and go out with him instead. No way! He was aghast! “But they’re GIRLS!!” I stared at him. “And your point is ...?” I asked. He could not believe this. But being Mr. Persistence, he met me after the play. ... It was great fun as Tom was funny, attentive and thoughtful.
We married 18 months later and in 1955 began our family of eight healthy, noisy, challenging children. Through it all, Tom kept the romance in our marriage and maintained his ever-quick sense of humor. ... We celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary on April 24, 2004. Two weeks later, the love of my life was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer. We thanked God for the 10 fun- and travel-filled retirement years we enjoyed together.
I miss my man every day. Talk to him frequently. Ask for his help whenever I get “stuck” over something. He is still around, just not visible to me. He’s saving a place for me with him in heaven, and, oh, are we going to throw a reunion party when God finally calls me home.
— Mariette (Sitter) Guenther, Jour ’55, widow of Thomas Guenther, Bus Ad ’53
A memorable snowball fight
I met my future wife, Kelly, on a cold December night during the dog days of finals week 1984. We were residents of West Hall, and the normally close-knit, jovial dormitory students were quietly studying. The monotony of our burden was mercifully broken when the city was unexpectedly hit with the season’s first big snowfall. Several of us couldn’t resist the temptation of the respite that the freshly fallen snow offered, so we ventured out onto the parking lot roof to play in the snow.
There were about 20 of us on the roof that fateful night, yelling and laughing when I was hit by a snowball thrown by Kelly Merrick. Cupid’s arrow must have been buried inside that particular projectile because my heart began to glow when I saw who hit me. I returned fire, and we proceeded to playfully bury each other’s face in the snow.
After our battle, several of us met at the VFW bar that was located on the bottom floor of West Hall. Inside the warm shelter of the “V” and under the glow of the neon beer signs, Kelly and I talked and started a beautiful relationship that continues to this day — after 18 years of marriage and two children.
I’ll never forget the beauty of the sparkling snow, the crisp, fresh air and the subsequent warmth in my heart which would be forever changed by the love I found on that pure December evening.
— Pete Vitti, Bus Ad ’87, married to Kelly (Merrick) Vitti, PT ’87
The moonlighting barber
How did we meet? He shaved my head!
I was an RA in Cobeen Hall and one of my best friends, Sarah, was in Schroeder Hall. Sarah kept telling me, “You gotta meet this boy on staff with me in Schroeder. You’ll love him!” I kept shrugging her off.
Finally, one Thursday night in early October we decided to get our hair cut. My husband-to-be (as it turned out) was known campuswide as the RA who cut students’ hair for extra money. Sarah and I walked up a few floors in Schroeder, and I met my handsome husband-to-be, Francisco (Cisco) Rivera, for the first time. Sarah sat down first — both because I was a little shy at the moment and she already knew and “trusted” Francisco. As she sat down in the makeshift “barber’s chair” (a dorm chair in the middle of the bathroom) she whirled toward me and said, “Hey, you wanna shave our heads?” I shrugged. “Sure — I’ve done it before.”
Francisco looked at both of us incredulously and said, “Are you sure?” We both ended up with our hair “shaved” to about one inch long all over. I remember thinking: “He’s soo cute! His hands are so soft and gentle! And his eyes are gorgeous!” So began an amazing relationship of friendship and love. To this day I still enjoy going to my favorite “barber.”
After four years of dating we got married August 13, 2005 at Three Holy Women Church on Brady Street
in Milwaukee.
— Katiera (Byrd-Egging) Rivera, Nurs ’04, married to Francisco Rivera, Arts ’02, H Sci ’04
Campus chefs
It was early September and I heard about a bagel party on the 10th Floor of Schroeder Hall. Turns out that two guys were cooking up bagels in their toaster oven and spreading cream cheese on them and passing out sodas and beer (we were the legal age of 18). Anyway, when there is food, there is people, so we really crammed the kids in the room. We were having so much fun that the men, Fritz and Casey, invited everyone back the next morning for breakfast and a pajama party. Fritz went to Grebe’s Bakery across the street from Gesu in his pajamas and slippers and got some doughnuts, eggs, milk and juice. He used his popcorn popper to cook scrambled eggs and served them up with juice and doughnuts. From that moment on I was hooked.
As a group we went out on weekends and found places to play foosball and have beer and maybe find a band to listen to. ... About a month after going out as a crowd, Fritz finally had the guts to ask me out on a triple date with two of his Green Bay buddies and their girlfriends. ... We dated for seven years. After Fritz graduated from medical school, we were married and have been now for going on 25 years.
— Beth (Mary Elizabeth) McTigue Schmidt, Dent Hy ’79, married to Fritz (Frederic William) Schmidt,
Arts ’79
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