Loggers Share Their Love Stories

1960s

Ann Albertson Deal ’61 and E. Fred Deal ’61 

Ann and I fit this description perfectly! And we are still going strong after 64 years of marriage. I came to the College of Puget Sound as a freshman in 1957 as a pre-med student from Nampa, Idaho. I had been recruited by Dr. Bob Albertson, who had filled in for President R. Franklin Thompson at an Idaho function the previous year. In the fall of 1958, Dr. Albertson informed me that one of the incoming freshmen was the Washington State Apple Blossom queen from Wenatchee. I was the sophomore class president and wasted no time to meet this beautiful girl with a freshman green beanie. I did, however, neglect some of my student body duties to meet her at the old Student Union Building. The problem was that a Wenatchee boy had transferred from Stanford and thought he had the inside track for this queen. After about three months, I was her choice—much to the consternation of Ann’s sister who followed in two years at CPS. This Wenatchee boy was so upset, he dropped out later that year. We became an item and were engaged at Christmas of my junior year and were married the week after I completed that year, on June 5, 1960. Ann took heavy classes and went to summer school for two summers to graduate after the summer of 1961. I had graduated after the spring semester and started medical school at the University of Washington that fall. We initially lived in chemistry professor Dr. Phil Fehlandt’s home for the summer of 1960. A side benefit was that I harvested most of his orchids for our wedding. When the professor returned from sabbatical, we then moved out to an apartment on Day Island. Our final home in Tacoma was in an upstairs apartment on Pine Street nearer to the university. We had our first child, Jim, while in Seattle, then another, Bruce, during internship in Spokane. Then came the Public Health Service and our Marianne was born while we were in Sitka, Alaska. Our final boy, Larry, was born during my residency in Salt Lake City. Thereafter, we moved to Wenatchee, and I had a very successful orthopaedic surgery practice. We are now 84 and 85 and have 11 grandchildren and one (almost two) great-grandchildren. Life is good. We live in the same home we purchased 52 years ago upon completion of my residency. So almost 64 ½ years of marriage after meeting at the old CPS in the fall of 1958!

Tom Vedvick ’66 and Claudia Ingalsbe Vedvick ’66 OT’67 

It was the fall of 1965. I was a senior and one of my friends asked if I would take out his girlfriend’s roommate. The annual Sadie Hawkins dance was happening the next week, and I suggested the roommate could call me and invite me to the dance. Claudia was too shy to call me, so I called her and invited her to the dance. I went to the dorm to pick her up and when she came out to the lobby, I was immediately smitten. She was beautiful with sparkling blue eyes and long blond hair. We danced the night away and had a wonderful time. Our next couple of dates were coffee dates at the student union building. Then a dinner and a movie night, followed by a wedding of one of Claudia’s friends where I was her plus one. It took me a while to win her over, but eventually I did with patience and perseverance. Fifty-nine years later, we are still together, very much in love and always holding hands.

Jim Reuter ’69 and Georgette Reuter ’71 

It was during my sophomore year that I met my future husband, Jim Reuter. It was the fall of 1968, and Jim had recently returned to finish up his senior year after having been drafted to serve in Vietnam. As a staff photographer on the Tamanawas yearbook, Jim would develop and print his photographs in a dark room located next to my ceramics class in Howarth Hall. One day, while Jim was taking informal photos of college life around the campus, he stopped by my ceramics class and snapped some quick photos. Days later, Jim spotted me in the Student Union Building, then walked over, and, to my surprise, handed me a photo. It was me—dressed in my dusty, clay-spattered apron, intently listening to Professor Carlton Ball’s instruction on how to throw a clay pot on the wheel. As I looked up at Jim, he replied “You have a pretty smile!” Our first date was a trip to Seattle to watch 2001: A Space Odyssey, followed by a pizza at Shakey’s Pizza Parlor on 6th Avenue. Two years later, in June 1971, we were married in Kilworth Chapel and moved just three blocks away into our forever home where we happily raised our two daughters. Jim became a full-time photographer, and I taught in the Tacoma Public Schools for 28 years. And to this day, we still love taking strolls together on the beautiful University of Puget Sound campus.

1970s

Kathleen Seaton Ashley ’70 and Wes Ashley 

I met my husband, Wes Ashley, at an all-city dance in the Fieldhouse in October 1968. His California National Guard unit had been activated due to the Pueblo Incident in January earlier that year. North Korea had captured the USS Pueblo, which was the Navy’s intelligence ship. It currently is in a museum in North Korea. Because army private pay is very low, we went on coffee dates and walks around campus. We sometimes went into Seattle to see the sights. In April 1969, we got engaged and Wes was deployed to Vietnam. I continued my studies, catching glimpses of his unit in the newspaper. (There was no CNN covering the war in Vietnam at that time.) And of course, there were anti-war demonstrations on campus, which I tried to avoid. I finished my degree in January 1970. After Wes returned home safely from Vietnam, we were married. We have been married 54 years. We have two sons, who are both pastors, four grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. God has blessed us in so many ways. I am very glad I went to that all-city dance.

Roland Stout ’76 and Linda Woodson ’76 

Linda and I met as sophomores in “Group,” a fellowship held at a parsonage a block from campus. We were initially part of a group of about 20 friends. In Group our junior year, the Sunday evening before Winterim 1974 began, everyone shared their Winterim course of study. I said my chemistry and biology student group was leaving to spend six weeks in Hawai`i studying marine biochemistry. Linda was surprised that I would be absent from her background of friends, which catalyzed her interest in me and our potential as a couple. Upon my return, we spent long hours walking, talking about everything under the sun, falling in love in the process. One Tuesday evening in early April that year, as we were sitting in Linda’s dorm room, a sense of peace came over me and I knew it was the right time. So I said: “Linda, I love you. Between you, me, God, and the bedpost, will you marry me?” She said: “Yes, but ask me again in broad daylight.” I did, and she said yes again. Many seemed to think we would never work, citing a wide range of differences between us. We are a true study in opposites – height, family backgrounds, one dedicated scientist, one literature-focused, one more formal, one more casual. The weekend after our graduation in 1976, we were married in Kilworth Chapel. We have proven the naysayers wrong as we will be celebrating our 49th anniversary in 2025.

1980s

Hilary Benson Gangnes ’80, JD ’84, P ’08 and Byron Gangnes ’82, P’08 

My Puget Sound love story began when I was a sophomore, and my future husband Byron was still at Curtis High School. I met him through a mutual friend when we went to see a high school play he was in. Fast forward two years. Byron also came to Puget Sound and got involved with the Inside Theatre. We were both just part of a group of theatre friends until fall 1979 when we became a couple. Then I left for the London study abroad program spring semester, and by that time we’d only been together a few months. But I knew he was “the one.” So, on opening night of a play Byron was in, I sent him a telegram from London that said: “Break a leg! P.S. Will you marry me?” I mistakenly thought that a paper telegram would be delivered to him at the Inside Theatre. Instead, as Byron recounts it, “some strange man from Western Union called me up and asked me to marry him.” After I returned from London, it took Byron a year to propose back to me. But he eventually did, and we were married a week after he graduated. Here we are, 45 years later, and in September 2024 we co-hosted (with W. Houston Dougherty ’83) an Inside Theatre alumni reunion in Santa Fe, N.M. Those theatre friends were with us at the beginning of our relationship, and it was great to be with them again after all these years.

Patricia Clark ’81 and Bernard Kravitz ’81 

As a freshman at Todd Hall, I looked forward to daily mailbox visits to stay connected with my family in Montana. One day, as I received a postcard from home with a photo of an antelope, a guy checking his mail from Massachusetts commented in his most authoritative, biology major voice that “there are no antelope in Montana!” Of course I set him straight, and thus began a lifetime of fact-checking on my part. Little did I know, however, that the antelope theme would recur in the upcoming weeks through antelope siting announcements on the KUPS radio station and numerous “Antelope Crossing” signs sprouting up around campus. Perhaps the most extreme antelope response appeared at the “Old City Ball,” an all-campus party held in downtown Tacoma. There I came upon the self-proclaimed antelope expert and his buddies wearing matching shirts with bold black lettering proclaiming “UPS Antelope Patrol.” Okay, he had my attention! We danced the night away and eventually married, and Bernie Kravitz and I are married to this day. I still do occasional fact-checking, and Bernie still goes to great extremes with any project he takes on. And, in case you’re wondering, yes, indeed, there are antelope in Montana. Patricia Clark and Bernard Kravitz live in Georgetown, Mass., with their huskies, Rascal and Diva. After completing his B.S. in biology at Puget Sound, and an M.S. in Environmental Science at the University of Hartford, Bernie had a successful 33-year career as an environmental science teacher at Beverly and Swampscott High Schools. After attending Puget Sound, Patty completed her B.A. in Music and German at the University of Montana, an M.M. in Piano Performance at Arizona State University, and an M.A. in Music Education from Gordon College. She currently serves as director of music ministries at the First Church in Swampscott and pre-K-5 music educator at the Glen Urquhart School, an independent school in Beverly.

Michael Hudspeth ’82 and Mary Hudspeth ’83 

Sophomore year I moved to a new dorm and took a chance with roommate lottery. Andy was outgoing and confident, where I was shy and reserved. On Andy’s birthday, four gals from our basement whom Andy had befriended brought him a cake. I casually mentioned that my birthday was in two weeks. On my birthday I had borrowed my brother’s car and taken a gal from my old dorm out to dinner. However, on our return she jumped out and rushed into her dorm. Dejectedly walking back to my dorm after returning the car, I happened to run into one of the four cake gals, and Mary gave me a big hug and wished me a happy birthday. They brought me my cake later that night. Two weeks later I was returning from a trip to Washington, D.C., with my dad and brother, and, as I entered Todd Hall, Mary just “happened” to be sitting in the foyer reading a book. We just celebrated 40 years married and 45 years together.

Erin Blitz ’83 and Jon Blitz ’83 

Jon and I met in Regester Hall in winter 1980. I was a freshman art major and Jon was a transfer student from Arizona studying chemistry and biology. We got to be friends. I would occasionally join him for meals at the SUB when he was sitting alone at the far corner table (and my boyfriend didn’t seem to mind). The summer before my senior year, Jon told me about an opening in the off-campus house he lived in on North Lawrence Street. I promptly moved in with him and three other guys—Chris Walls, Dana Weant, and a revolving door of various basement dwellers. We got to know each other pretty well. I thought Jon was a great guy and I remember imagining ways to keep in touch with him after graduation. On my graduation night 1983, our house had a party. A group of friends and a case of champagne made for a fun and relatively wholesome evening, which I remember included Jon and I participating in the Bunny Hop. The resulting two-day hangover let Jon and me spend some quality time together. He bravely shared how he felt about me and invited me to leave with him for graduate school. A few weeks later I made the hardest, yet smartest decision of my life, and we packed his VW Bug and moved to Colorado to start our life together. It was a forty-one-year amazing adventure. Jon died of brain cancer Sept. 29, 2024.

Mitzi Heintz Hadley ’87 and Mark Hadley ’87 

We met via mutual friends at Puget Sound in the fall of 1983. We both lived in Todd Hall—Mark in the basement and Mitzi on the third floor. We had our first date on March 31, 1984, and have been together ever since! Our first date was dinner at Pizza and Pipes (where you get a pizza and a pitcher of soda for under $5 followed by a movie!). We each survived a couple apartment moves with various roommates, Mitzi passed her BASIC programming class due to Mark’s computer skills, Mark survived “starving student status” due to Mitzi’s cooking skills…and the rest is history! We graduated in June 1987 and married in Mitzi’s hometown, Prosser, Wash., in August 1987 surrounded by many fellow alums! We lived in Gig Harbor, then Silverdale, then Olympia before moving back to be near Mitzi’s family in eastern Washington in 2001. We raised four kids and have been blessed with six grandkids. Our most recent move was to Honolulu to realize our lifelong dream of living in Hawai`i!

1990s

Erik Johnson ’91 and Kimberly Rountree Johnson ’92 

I met Erik in 1989 on the lawn of the Sigma Chi house when the couches were outside for a sunny day. Erik was a junior, and I was a Gamma Phi sophomore and a Sigma Chi little sister. I remember first dancing with him at a Halloween function. Our first date was at the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium during holiday Zoo Lights. Erik had a work/study job at the zoo as the night swing keeper, and I became a docent with their Rocky Shores marine mammals. Sometimes we would study on the floor of the aquarium after hours. One of our favorite memories is when Erik would give the public talks about the three beluga whales while I was in the water with them wearing a dry suit. It was so much fun! We dated for five years during an era without email or texting, surviving my nine-month Pac Rim trip with recorded cassette tape letters. We married in California in 1994 and have three wonderful grown children. This year we celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary with a trip back to the zoo and a walk around campus. We are forever grateful for our time at Puget Sound and the love story that began on Union Avenue.

Steph Jaouen ’93 and Brynn Starr ’94 

Steph and Brynn met in January 1991 as Tri Delta sisters, and they soon became close friends. Since Steph was a year ahead of Brynn, they seemed to always be in different phases of life, and they said that is part of what delayed them officially getting together. “But there was always a really strong connection,” Steph added. Through living abroad and moving home during the off months of school, they always remained each other’s person. Brynn said leaning on each other as friends is what has made their relationship so strong, and “going through the hard stuff and the good stuff pulls you together.” In 2003, the moment they were waiting for when everything aligned finally arrived, and they have been together ever since. In 2011, they had their son Kellan (and were the first same-sex couple to both be named as parents on a birth certificate in Pierce County), and in 2014, they married. They now live and work in Colorado, but Brynn said she feels Tacoma will always be her home.

– Story by Genna Duniway ’28

Piper Roelen ’95 and Andrea Egans Roelen ’96 

It all started at the Fieldhouse when Piper came to watch Andrea and her conference champion women’s volleyball team play. After one match, he and his Sigma Chi brothers were hooked and became devoted (if not infamous) fans, who were later dubbed the “Bleacher Creatures” by The Trail. Piper and Andrea got to know each during Andrea’s sophomore season when her team won the 1993 NAIA National Championship, and she was named the national tournament MVP. The two began dating in February 1994 shortly after a magical evening together at the Kappa Alpha Theta Mystery Dance. They dated through the rest of college, enjoying exploring ethnic eateries in the area, going to dances and functions, and studying together in Thompson Hall. They were briefly separated by distance during Andrea’s senior year when Piper moved to Denver for his first job, but then reunited in Colorado where they lived and worked until they were married in 1998, surrounded by family and many of their college friends. For 26 years, they have been best friends, outdoor adventurers, world travelers, devoted parents to two beautiful girls, dog owners, a professional engineer and a volleyball club director—happy, healthy, thankful, and blessed. This wonderful love story started at Puget Sound and has continued to blossom ever since.

Brian Galicia ’96 and Lisa Galicia ’98 

Lisa and I met when I was a junior and she was a freshman, while I was walking with a fraternity brother to what we used to call the SUB— the Wheelock Center—for dinner. Lisa asked about me through a mutual friend, and soon after, I got her contact information from the “cheechako” and arranged our first date. We had dinner at the Ram on the Ruston Way waterfront and went ice skating. Our relationship grew stronger as we went on dates in Tacoma and Seattle, and to fraternity events in Victoria. We enjoyed being on campus together for two years. After I graduated, I stayed local for my first job, and we continued to date. After Lisa graduated, I proposed to her in the fall of her graduating year on the San Juan Islands, and we were married in her hometown of Piedmont, Calif., in the spring of 1999. We had many close friends from Puget Sound attend the wedding, including the wedding party. We settled in Issaquah, Wash., and have two wonderful daughters and two English cream golden retrievers. We keep in touch with our close college friends, participate in reunions, and engage with the Career & Employment Services team to give back to current students. We also just celebrated 25 years and look forward to many more.

Tamara Johnstone-Yellin ’99 and Jason Johnstone-Yellin ’98

In August 1997, 6,000 miles away in Aberdeen, Scotland, Jason set out to study philosophy at Puget Sound. I started my third year as a biology major, living in a campus house on North Alder Street. I passed Jason’s house, just around the corner on North Lawrence Street, multiple times a day on my way to and from class, before finally meeting through a mutual friend in March of that academic year. Over the next two months, we spent as much time together with friends, laughing, having thoughtful conversations about life, the environment, and even more laughing. I wouldn’t let myself fall for Jason, given the expiration date on our friendship in this pre-connected time. Little did I know that Jason had already fallen for me. On May 14, 1998, we talked through the early morning hours instead of studying for our finals. Raw with what might have been, I dropped Jason at the airport later that evening, expecting to never see him again. I spent the next several days mourning, trying to accept it as the special experience it was. No longer able to resist the temptation, I headed to the computer lab, convincing myself that I had an obligation to let Jason know he left items in my car. My heart leapt at the sight of his name already in my inbox. After four years of a long-distance love affair and jumping through immigration hoops, Jason emigrated to the U.S., and we married in May 2002, a few days shy of the fourth anniversary of that May day in 1998. We are still stupidly in love with each other, living in Virginia with our funny and thoughtful teenage boys. In May, we will celebrate 23 years of marriage and 27 years since that day we bared our hearts, did terribly on our finals, and thought we would never see each other again. To think how long we were 6,000 miles away, and just around the corner.

Jonathan Price ’99 and Katherine Hagerman Price ’99 

South 8th and Alder. The Party House. We eventually realized this was where we first met, in the laundry room, at a party, during Passages before the start of classes freshman year. But our love first blossomed a couple weeks later, at AMC Narrows Plaza, between a double feature of Clueless and The Net, with a group of new friends from the SSS Harrington Hall. We had very different academic pursuits during our time at Puget Sound — marketing and geology — but still managed to arrange our schedules so we could take two classes together outside either of our majors: Music Theory and World History. We were married at Kilworth Chapel a few months after graduation by beloved Communications prof Doc P, while starting our careers and our journey northward from Tacoma: Renton, Bellevue, Bothell. Then, our first child was born in Seattle before we moved overseas to London where our second child was born. Now we’re back in the Pacific Northwest, in Ballard. Both of our boys are now in high school, on the verge of the next stage of their own journeys. We enjoy nightly family dinners, neighborhood walks and coffee talks, exploring new cities, attending live sports and concerts, and trying new restaurants for brunch and dinner. It’s been a few years, however, since we hung out in a laundry room. This week, we’ll celebrate 25 years of marriage, and we have spent 29 years together as “Jon and Kate.”

2000s

Caitlin Dreyfus Stetner ’04 and Kyle Stetner ’04 

It was “love at first sight,” except I remembered meeting him twice before. I was walking back to Anderson/Langdon from the gym—soccer shorts, t-shirt, messy hair—and he ran out to talk to me from the stairs at Todd/Phibbs. A magnetic pull. We made plans to meet up. We bonded over his ten-year old sister with the same name, where we were from, how we both moved out-of-state to go to college, and here we were, finding each other. We got married in our own time, nine years later, and now it’s a wonder we have known each other longer than we haven’t. Three kids, and college memories of bowling leagues at Chalet Bowl in the Proctor District, karaoke at E9, pizza and milkshakes at the Cellar, curling up in twin beds, football games, house parties, visits to see each other during summers apart, our first OAR concert at the Fieldhouse, and boundless time with friends who are now family to us and at the core of our story. Now, as we conquer a busy phase of life, raising a family and building careers, our kids howl when we kiss – but I think someday, they’ll know they’re so lucky.

Vincent Maurer ’04, DPT ’07 and Alexandria Galvan Maurer ’07 

Though the Dining Staff working at the HUB during 2006-07 were a mixed lot of student workers, official staff, and familiar long-term characters, we think at least some of them were Cupids in disguise. When one of us would come through the cafeteria, certain dining staff at the registers would note where the person sat, usually upstairs in the old booths and balcony area that is no longer there. When the next to come in made it to the registers, the staff would smile teasingly and mention, “Oh, I think he’s sitting upstairs today” or something similar. When we graduated, we took a picture with the Dining Staff to celebrate with them. They are the reason we studied and ate together more, which led to later on dating, marriage, and having kids together. We just celebrated 15 years of marriage this year! 

Aubrey Shelton ’05 and Courtney Knippel Shelton ’05 

Courtney and I were both freshmen in 2001 living on the third floor of Todd Phibbs. We knew of one another prior to campus arrival having both played in the same Tacoma Youth Symphony group (Courtney violin and Aubrey trumpet) as well as each participating at the state basketball tournament at the Tacoma Dome. But we never actually had a real conversation until we bumped into one another at a University of Washington fraternity party that October! That interaction off campus led to more group outings together with our roommates and friends. Neither of us was looking for a long-term relationship, but the more we grew to know each other, we inevitably knew we had found “the one,” and we became a couple over that first winter break. We have so many special memories dating on campus, from taking classes together (particularly the late Matt Pickard’s statistics class), to performing a junior and senior recital (Courtney on violin and Aubrey piano), Hawaii house functions (Courtney was an adopted member), basketball games, orchestra concerts, and discovering our future career paths as secondary educators. The first day of class our senior year we took a picnic lunch to the Ruston Way waterfront where I proposed, and she said yes! After graduation, we married that summer. Our reception was at the Rasmussen Rotunda and was largely made possible thanks to President Ron Thomas working his magic to make it available. Our first year of marriage was spent in the MAT program and student teaching. Courtney is teaching orchestra at Truman Middle School and Aubrey has been the head men’s basketball coach since 2018 after teaching and coaching at Lincoln High School for eleven years. Our daughter Claire has grown up on campus attending exciting games and camps, learning to ride a bike, and spending many a family meal at the Diner.

Andrew VanZandt ’05 and Amy VanZandt ’06 

We knew of each other. Our first interaction, we ate lunch alone, sitting across the table from each other in the SUB lounge, both silently reading the New York Times. When you finished eating, you said, “Good talk, Amy,” and left. I was confused, and amused, and surprised that you knew my name. Our second interaction, nearly a year later, was during callbacks for “Angels in America.” I remember nervously babbling at you, and telling you how great you would be as Roy Cohn (sorry, Johno). We didn’t interact again for nearly another year. You had graduated a few months prior, and it was the kickoff party for the new school year. I saw you and was inexplicably excited. I shouted your name when you walked in the house, as did many others. You came over and sat next to me on the couch. We bantered, and at some point, were egged on to kiss (thanks, Liz). Later that night, we all sat around watching tv and I think I knew it the second you held my hand. It was just so sweet and surprising. It’s been almost 20 years since that first kiss, and we’ve built an amazing life together full of sweet surprises. I love you, babe!

Eddie Monge ’06 and Sara Pasquariello Monge ’07 

Sara and I met on campus in May 2005. To this day, I swear I spotted her in the gym a few weeks prior (I took notice of her in green workout shorts…but she claims she never had green shorts, so…). I played baseball, and she tagged along to a game with her friend Nicole, whose boyfriend (now husband) Quentin was also on the team. Nicole introduced the two of us at the field, and we took the bait, striking up a conversation about both being Colorado natives. We fell for each other, spending every waking hour together or IM’ing each other, which wasn’t good for our upcoming final exams, but there were more important matters at hand. Our first official date was an awkward movie night with two platonic friends, Tim and Mo. I’ll never live down the fact that I hesitated and let Sara go to the ticket window first (who says chivalry is dead?), where she promptly purchased her own ticket. We married in 2011 and have continued to grow our love and family back in Colorado, with two beautiful daughters (hopefully future Loggers!). We visit the PNW and our campus roots as often as we can. Oh, and Sara still doesn’t own a pair of green shorts.

Kainoa Higgins ’08, MAT ’09 and Molly Gibson Higgins ’11, MAT ’12 

My husband and I met at Puget Sound, though neither of us remember exactly when. Likely some time during my freshman (his senior) year, crossing paths in the Fieldhouse through athletics or Greek life. Our acquaintanceship made for friendly golf cart rides from Collins Library back to Greek Row after late night study sessions when he worked for Campus Security. We crossed paths occasionally as he finished his MAT during my sophomore year, and then as he embarked on his teaching career, we were out of touch for a couple of years... until a fateful meeting at Magoo’s Annex that brought us back in touch and led to a first date at The Matador downtown. The rest, as they say, is history as we’ve been together for a lucky 13 years, married for seven, and still enjoy walks through campus with our two dogs and toddler in tow.

Lauren Reed ’09 and Nick Reed ’09 

He worked at Diversions Café; I worked at the SUB. He’d come through my line whenever I was working as a cashier, and I’d peek over the counter to chat with him while he pulled shots at the espresso machine. He told me years later that he’d get nervous when I came to visit and mess up the orders; I remember thinking he had the bluest eyes I’d ever seen, looking at me over a latte. Our love grew during late-night pool games at the Cellar and late-morning brunches at Shakabrah, dance parties off campus and rounds of bowling at the alley off Proctor. Senior year, we lived at the Halloween House with the guys who would later stand beside us at our wedding. Eighteen years later, we have everything we never dreamed of back then: a house with a garden, two adorable children. We’ve officially reached the point in our relationship where I’ve spent more of my life with him than without him, though sometimes I look at our Facebook photos from back then and wonder how the years passed by so quickly!

Tom Glassman ’09 and Deanna Glassman ’09 

In 2005, I first met Deanna when my floor mates and I were signing up for an intramural volleyball team. Deanna worked in the intramural office, and I convinced her to join our co-ed team. Though we were both dating other people at the time, we became fast friends. After that, it felt like I saw her everywhere. From my basement window in the Smith dorms, I’d often spot her and her friends leaving the Schiff dorm main doors. Finally, when we were both single, I heard she had been asked out by someone else, which spurred me to make my move. She said yes! The night of our date, our baseball coach wasn’t pleased with our recent performance, so we ended up running sprints well into the night. Eager not to be too late, I was the first to sprint off the field once practice ended. Exhausted, I dashed across campus, threw my bag in my dorm, and took a lightning-fast shower. I dressed in the clothes I’d laid out before practice and jumped into my parents’ old Accord, arriving at her door 1.5 hours late. Despite my lateness, Deanna looked beautiful, and we headed out into Tacoma. The first restaurant had a line out the door, and the second was closed, so we ended up at (the now-closed) Europa in Proctor. As we got out of the car, my belt, put on upside down in my haste, came undone. I quickly fixed it and caught up to her. Sore, late, embarrassed, hungry, and with knowledge that she had gone on the date with another fellow just two nights before, we finally sat down at the same corner table where I would ask her to marry me three years later. This year, we celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary.

AJ Middleton ’09 and Jessica Scarsella ’10

AJ and I met in Kate Stirling’s Gender and Economy class. It was spring semester, and AJ was in the midst of track season. I was a vice-president of my sorority, Alpha Phi, and planning Red Dress Gala. We both have big personalities and love our friends, so it’s no surprise that our friends brought us together one night at the Rock Pizza. As I got to know AJ in class, I fell for how thoughtful he was and how much he genuinely respected women. Fast forward to 15 years later, I am still proud of the husband, father, and professional that AJ is. In our post college lives, AJ pursued a career in strength and conditioning receiving a master’s in management from University of Redlands and going on to work with college football programs at USC, UNLV, BYU, Stanford and UW. After graduating, I went on to earn a Juris Doctorate from Gonzaga University School of Law. Through everywhere our careers have taken us, AJ and I did long distance and love persevered; we eventually married in 2018. These days, life is made up of less traveling, but a lot busier with two little boys, Maximillian and Bronson. We live in Auburn, Wash., where AJ is the program head of Strength and Conditioning at Seattle Preparatory School, and I am general counsel at Scarsella Bros., Inc. We enjoy every opportunity we can to get back to Puget Sound and show our boys where we fell in love! 

2010s

Jenny Barron Krueger ’11 and Braydn Krueger 

“So, are you going to give Braydn the Turkey Drop?” my dad asked after a parents’ gathering at freshman orientation. I returned his mischievous grin. We were the kind of couple who seemed to know each other from past lives, dating since the ages of 17 and 19, and I was enamored with both him and the campus of Puget Sound. That autumn, I laid on my twin bed and listened to the mixed CD he had mailed to me, gazed at the quirky card that had accompanied it, lost myself in the handwriting that was so uniquely his. I played songs from his mixes on my KUPS show, where his band’s newest release was on the local shelf, and later, the main rotation. My wardrobe doors became covered in cards, pasted with blue sticky tack. Some weekends he joined the games of Settlers of Catan in the basement lounge of Harrington Hall; some weekends I worked at the Cellar; some weekends I drove north to Fidalgo Island, a place that was becoming another home to me. Years went by. Braydn visited me in University Hall, then in the Humanities House. He laughed upon entering my dorm room on the weekend of graduation—nothing was packed. I couldn’t bear to do it after completing my final finals, choosing instead to wander the land and buildings, trying to sear it into my heart. My two great loves and me. My simple engagement ring binding us all together.

Shana Tsukiyama Hedge ’12 and Tim Hedge ’12 

Tim and I met through a mutual friend—Jack Nakagawa ’12—after orientation, hanging out a few times first year just as friends. Sophomore year, we happened to move into the same off-campus house again through our friend, Jack. Between sharing walks to and from the SUB, spending time at the Cellar where he worked, and late-night finals studying, we started dating. Our story really took off from there! We took classes together, performed together in Luau activities, and graduated as business majors. Fast forward 15 years, we’ve been married for eight and are now living in Austin, Texas, with our four cats! 

Evan Eckles ’13 and Gabby Paz ’14 

Evan first saw Gabby working at the Collins Memorial Library circulation desk while he was at the technology desk downstairs. The annual Luau was our next meeting from afar. We were finally introduced through mutual geology and music friends, and officially hung out for the first time at an “end of the world” party in Oct 2011. It was almost love at first meet. I played on an intramural volleyball team with Evan’s Sigma Chi brothers, and he attended every match after we met. Evan’s musical performances soon had an additional attendee. In February 2012, we went on our first date, at the best Italian joint in the Proctor District, and the rest is basically history. Puget Sound was far from our homes in Texas and Virginia, [and] a fun place to learn and grow. Our common interests and unique perspectives united us. After three months of dating, we moved in together and have shared the same space since. We came to Tacoma as strangers, and we left as a family. We just got married in March 2024 on our 12-year anniversary! I gifted Evan a tie on our wedding day which featured a topographic map of campus printed on it to commemorate where our story started. One of our best friends, a fellow Logger, also officiated our wedding! We now live in Seattle with our 4-year-old rescue dog named Jameson. Once a Logger, always a Logger! 

Rafi Ronquillo ’14 and Rachel Moore ’16

My partner and I fell in love at Puget Sound in the fall of 2013. Our love story began on a Friday night in October. My housemates and I were hosting a taco potluck shabbat dinner. Rafi arrived late, after lacrosse practice, and by the time he got there, all the tacos were gone. He was cute and looked hungry, so I led him into our kitchen and heated up some leftover veggie chili. After the potluck, we all walked over to a KUPS basement dance party. We danced together for hours, and eventually, Rafi looked at me and in the most unassuming way, he said: “I think, I think I’m going to go home. . . do you. . . do you want to go home with me?” We’ve pretty much been together ever since. After college, we bopped around. We worked as wilderness guides in Yosemite together for a couple of seasons. Traveled through southeast Asia for four months. Joined the Peace Corps and lived in Guatemala for two years. Moved to Michigan, where I attended law school. But we always felt pulled back to Washington. Thanks in large part to Puget Sound, this state holds such a special place in our hearts. So now we’re back in Seattle, putting down roots. We’re about to celebrate our 11-year anniversary. And last month, we got hitched on the Olympic Peninsula. It was so magical to celebrate our love where it all began. 

Megan Lambert ’15 and Ross Macausland ’16 

My now husband and I met in 2013 but fell in love in 2015, kindling our romance at the now-defunct bar, Masa. Our courtship took us all over campus—highlights include sitting under and admiring the Chihuly installation in Wyatt, my stomping grounds as an English major, and perusing the books in the physics library in Thompson, Ross’s regular spot. Pi Beta Phi and Phi Delta Theta formal events, and “studying” for hours in the basement study rooms in Collins, where we shared our hopes and dreams for the future, our favorite baby names (Sloane for a girl, from Ferris Bueller), and procrastinated over our attempts to win Oregon Trail. Duke of Earl lattes in Diversions (and the occasional stop in Oppenheimer to assuage Ross’s insistence that it was superior). Watching Ross at track meets, and attending each other’s graduation ceremonies, bringing our families together. We only find it fitting that Puget Sound is forever embedded in our professional careers as well. Ross was first recruited to the HR software company, Workday, at the Puget Sound Career Fair in 2016. I followed suit, joining Workday’s Student platform in 2020. The University of Puget Sound continues to shape our lives for the better, and we often reflect on our time fondly. We owe so much to Puget Sound, and plan to take our 11-month-old daughter Sloane one day to visit Mom and Dad’s stomping grounds.

Joey Randazzo ’16 and Emily Bowman Randazzo ’17 

“I’ll never see you again.” They sound like words from a doomed love story, and technically they are— but we weren’t dating when he said them to me. In fact, we were barely friends although we’d been in the same Business Leadership Program classes the last few years. It was the end of fall semester our junior year, and we were chatting in McIntyre after a final. I was excitedly talking about going abroad next semester, and Joey was sharing his plan to graduate early and teach overseas. Instead of a casual “see you later!” as would be appropriate for acquaintances, he flippantly pointed out that we probably wouldn’t. Fast forward six months, I was back in Tacoma after my time abroad and was at Joey’s graduation party. When I saw him, I skipped the pleasantries that are normal for just-barely-friends, and went right to “Thought you’d never see me again, huh?” We only had three weeks together before he moved overseas, and I fell for him. It was supposed to be a summer fling that we knew would end, but I was devastated when he left. A few months later, though, Joey was back in Tacoma. The universe had plans for him that cut short his time abroad, and I was lucky enough to be in those plans. Seven years later, we’re married and have a giggly 14-month-old son together. Our love story wasn’t doomed, after all. I fall for him more every day.

Bella Wong ’16 and Allison Nasson ’18

Bella and Allison met in Diversions Cafe in the fall of 2013, when Bella was a sophomore and Allison was a freshman. A couple of months later, they returned to Diversions for one of their first dates. They talked for hours, and when the cafe closed, they moved to the SUB to continue the conversation. During their time at Puget Sound, they explored Tacoma together, with favorite locations including Mandolin, Point Defiance, Rosewood Cafe, Shakabrah, and Dash Point. When Allison studied abroad through the Pacific Rim program, Bella visited her in Hong Kong. There, they were able to spend time with Bella’s Hong Kong relatives. The two moved to Portland together after Allison returned to the U.S. and graduated from Puget Sound. On New Year’s Eve of 2020, Bella took Allison on a trip to Tacoma and proposed on the Diversions patio. In July of 2023, Allison and Bella married in Portland, with many fellow alums in attendance.

Amanda Klein ’17 

It began with eyes meeting across cards scattered on a carpet in a house miles from Tacoma. Or perhaps it began that fateful night in front of Jones Hall. More realistically, it probably began at a table in the SUB, the meeting of two strangers more alike than anyone realized, whose lives would remain intertwined for years to come. While neither was intended for the other, like a compass finds north, they found each other and like magnets they returned to each other over and over, for better or for worse. Together even when they weren’t, loyal to each other even when it was owed to others, they pursued each other as much as their studies and relied on each other for familiarity as their worlds grew and the future loomed larger with every passing year. Their love was one clouded by youth and hubris and marred by fraught friends and disparate personal histories, and yet at the time, it felt as true and fated as any. Distance may have dissolved their union, but Puget Sound will always know their story.

Madison Bowden Pomden ’17 and Christopher Pomerenke Pomden ’17 

My husband and I met on our first day during orientation week. We had just moved into our dorms and the RAs began knocking on doors to get people out on the quad to play icebreaker games with the rest of North Quad. My roommate and I found ourselves in a group with Chris, and that’s how I learned his name and where he was from. The next time I met him was in my first ever college course, “Homer to Hitchcock” with Professors Hooper and Erving, and he was late to class on the first day, drawing much attention to himself as he barrelled in after having gone to the wrong classroom. After many weeks of debating how he would talk to me, he bravely asked me to coffee at Oppenheimer, and the rest was history! We’ve been together ever since! We have now been together for 11 years, but we just celebrated our first wedding anniversary in September after eloping at Cape Flattery (which was officiated by another alum, Grace Talen). Puget Sound will always have a special place in our hearts!

Zoe Weinberg ’18 and Charlie Bjork ’18 

Senior year, my friends loved to tease me about my “run dates.” I had a habit of inviting cute guys on runs—some tried to race me, one poor soul threw up after the 30th Street hill, and others could barely wheeze out a sentence. Needless to say, none of them were “the one.” Then, I met Charlie. We started running from Thompson Hall, weaving our way through Tacoma’s North End and down to Ruston Waterfront through Puget Park. Our pace in perfect sync, but what I loved most was our conversation—nonstop and easy. By the end of that run, I knew everything from his childhood memories to his wildest dreams. I was intrigued, to say the least. Before long, those runs turned into senior formal dates, and soon enough, into something more. Our whirlwind “honeymoon phase” of senior year kept us on our toes, right up until graduation, when reality set in and the looming question of “what’s next?” hung over us like the ultimate finish line. Fast forward to 2023. After 18-weeks of marathon training, Charlie and I crossed the finish line of the Philadelphia Marathon, side by side again. It was our second marathon together, and the moment was pure joy, even with sore legs. But just when I thought the runner’s high was fading, Charlie, wobbling a little from all the miles, got down on one knee and asked me to run through life with him. From running buddies to life partners, it all began at Puget Sound.

Kian Genteman ’18 and Eada Gendelman ’19 

When I was moving into my freshman dorm, Anderson-Langdon, I had plans of being an independent single woman for the entirety of college. Of course, the minute I stepped on campus, I met a handsome sophomore who was volunteering for move-in day. He carried my belongings up to my third story dorm room and I thought that was that. I didn’t think much of him because I was committed to doing my own thing, but this guy was pretty persistent in asking me out. We started seeing each other around campus and hanging out, and sure enough, I begrudgingly fell in love. Fast forward nine years, and we just celebrated our wedding in Colorado surrounded by fellow Loggers.

Casey O’Brien ’18 and Tyler Randazzo ’19 

My new husband and I have a truly Puget Sound love story. From early dates at King’s Books and Cafe Brousseau all the way until our wedding in Sonoma, CA, we never stopped loving the PNW, Puget Sound, or each other. We will forever be grateful for Puget Sound for bringing us together and helping us to grow as individuals and a couple. We met as editors on The Trail and started dating as a sophomore and junior. Eight years, many outdoor adventures, a dog and a pandemic later, we got married on a perfect autumn day at a winery near my parents’ home in the California wine country. We DIY’ed almost everything for our outdoor wedding, including our flowers, decor, and meaningful ceremony. We got married in front of the vines and then danced the night away like we did at so many house parties in Tacoma. Our head table was nearly all alums, because Puget Sound was so formative for us that many of our closest friends are still the folks we met as students. At the end of our wedding, a comet flew across the sky over our heads. The A3 comet, which circles the earth once every 80,000 years, passed us in California that night, just a few days after it was visible in Tacoma. We think that’s a pretty good omen for our married life to come.

2020s

Noah Dillon ’20 and Rachael Stegmaier ’21 

We met for the first time at Olympia Coffee. I was a sophomore, and he was a junior, but I’d never seen him before, probably because he spent all of his time in the biology building. He was the first and only person I met up with from a dating app. I was drawn in by his opening question—“What’s your favorite type of cheese?” On our second date, he made me homemade bread and soup, and I knew he was a keeper. We spent afternoons walking Peter Wimberger’s dog, Kava (RIP), in the Point Defiance Forest and the campus neighborhoods. We sheltered out the Great Winter Storm of 2019, watching the Lord of The Rings Extended Edition while snow piled up feet deep. When COVID hit and we were sent home, Noah drove the both of us to the Southwest, where we spent a summer between his sister’s house in Colorado and my parents’ house in New Mexico. We watched him graduate from Zoom in his sister’s basement. When Noah went to graduate school at the University of Oregon, he would drive back and forth from Eugene to Tacoma to see me as often as possible. After I graduated, I took the leap and moved to Eugene. Three years later, we are on the brink of another move to North Carolina, this time with a dog in tow. I’m so grateful for our time spent at college together, and the memories we made in the Pacific Northwest! 

Alyssa Erickson ’23 and Joe Schwab ’24 

Joe and I first crossed paths when we were both 18. I was tasked with recruiting incoming freshmen for the Business Leadership Program (BLP), and Joe was considering joining when he started his first year in the coming months. At the time, we were both in relationships, but we still connected as I shared with him all the reasons I loved Puget Sound. We had some great conversations, and I helped answer his questions about the program, sparking a connection that would subtly thread through the years to come. Then COVID hit, and life shifted. Joe began his first year on campus, living with the other baseball players, while I was at home preparing to take a gap semester and leave for Papua New Guinea for seven months, with plans to transfer to Oregon State. Just before I left, I drove up to campus to say goodbye to some friends. On that trip, I went on a date that quickly fizzled out (it should’ve never ventured beyond friendship). Ironically, that night, I ended up back at the baseball house where Joe was. We had an unexpected but compelling conversation, bonding over our shared love for Oregon—he was from Portland, and I was about to transfer to a school there. I remember thinking, “Why aren’t there more guys like him in my class?” A year later, after some convincing from friends and mentors, I decided to stay at Puget Sound. I threw myself back into rekindling friendships and reestablishing connections. Throughout the year, I would occasionally bump into Joe, and I always found myself drawn to his goofy energy. The following semester, we found ourselves in the same finance class, now both members of the BLP. By then, I had been offered a full-time internship, and when I mentioned it to Joe, he kindly offered to tutor me to help with my coursework. What started as simple tutoring sessions turned into long walks and sunset watching, where we deepened our conversations and truly got to know each other. It took months (mostly because I was a bit stubborn) before we realized we had a deep connection, and we eventually decided to pursue dating. Flash forward three years, and Joe and I have lived together in Greece, traveled to 10 different countries, and are about to embark on the next chapter of our lives in Seattle!

And a faculty love story...

Ariela Tubert and Justin Tiehen 

We met when we were both graduate students in philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin. We were taking a class together on contemporary French philosophy and sometimes would get together (with a larger group) to complain about the professor and the class and also talk about things in general. We got lucky in solving the “two-body problem,” which we had been worrying about for some time. (That’s the problem of two partners getting jobs together in the same location.) We got married in 2008 while already being in the philosophy faculty at Puget Sound though we had been a couple for much longer. While we work in the same department, we have done a few things to try to keep some distance on campus. For example, we have made a point not to have offices immediately next to each other—we kept an office between ours. A small gesture, but at least something. We’ve both had experiences like this: one of us mentions casually in a class that we are married, and some students gasp because they’ve had classes with both of us and didn’t realize it. Throughout most of our careers we’ve published in entirely different areas of philosophy (Ariela mostly in ethics and Justin mostly in philosophy of mind), although we of course talk about our views with one another. At one point there was enough overlap in what we were discussing that we decided to try to write a book together, something neither of us had attempted on our own. This could have been a recipe for disaster but much of the process went surprisingly smoothly, although at one key point we had a major argument about something very central to the book—the link to artificial intelligence. However, it turned out to be very much a case where this big argument made the project much better—through the argument, we fundamentally reformulated the project and how we were approaching our research. In addition to the book, we have now published several articles together in academic journals. One to highlight given the topic of the Arches article is about human beings having romantic relationships with AI systems, like in the movie Her. We take an existentialist angle that focuses on the notion of authenticity, arguing that in several ways artificial romantic relationships are in danger of being inauthentic, although in principle an authentic artificial romance is possible (where we realize that “authentic artificial” sounds paradoxical).