John ’58 & Mary (Holo) Adix
I met Mary Holo in the fall of 1954, our freshman year at Wartburg College. It was love at first sight. (Green Beanies and all!) We had many chapel dates. She was there for two years and then transferred to the University of Wisconsin. We managed a long-distance romance. I graduated from Wartburg in 1958. We were married in August 1958. I graduated from Wartburg Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa, in 1962. We have lived in a number of states and two foreign countries. It has been an exciting adventure. We will celebrate our 63rd anniversary this year. The love that began at Wartburg College continued to grow. We never argue. Hahaha! Our life has been richly blessed. We have four sons and seven grandchildren.
Caleb ’20 & Ashley (Stevens) ’19 Appleton
Ashley and I met at Cross Country camp my freshman year up in Minnesota. After a midnight canoeing adventure, it wasn’t long until we started dating. Continuing to grow closer over her next three years at school, I waited until the last week of her time at Wartburg to finally pop the question. Through a series of elaborate scavenger hunts, she found me down on one knee at the old wooden bridge by Nestle. She said yes, and we are now happily married and enjoying our new lives together. We will always be grateful for the memories and the people that our time at Wartburg has brought to both of us.
Steph (Robbins) ’99 & Jay ’99 Boeding
In our senior year, Jay would swing by the Journalism Lab early on Monday mornings on his way to the KWAR studio and find me very tired after staying up most of the night as editor of The Trumpet. He would take me to Kwik Star for coffee (no Konditorei in those days), and we got to know each other and enjoyed spending time together, and we soon started dating. We graduated, got married in 2000, and life took us to Cedar Rapids and Des Moines before we moved back to Waverly in 2014 to work at Wartburg. Now, we go to coffee together most days to the KDit on campus, and just celebrated our 20th anniversary this year. It’s very special for us to be at the same place we fell in love!
Sarah (Learn) ’05 & Justin ’06 Brincks
Although Justin and I met before college, our love story began on Outfly 2002. I ran into him outside the bookstore, getting our $5 Outfly shirts. Of course, I was wearing underwear on my head at the time (because, Outfly!). The fact that he wasn’t deterred by the undies should have been my first inkling this could be something special. He learned that I was minoring in Spanish and asked if I could help him through his Spanish 106 course. Those meetings turned into hours-long conversations and the building of a wonderful friendship. The following summer, we went on our first date and have been inseparable since. He asked me to marry him under a weeping willow at Kohlmann Park just before graduation in May 2005. 17 years together, 14 years of marriage, 2 kids, and 1 dog later, Wartburg continues to hold a special place in our hearts.
Molly (Schares) ’16 & Braxton ’16 Chiccelly
My freshman year, Kiera Benge and I would leave our door open in Vollmer; group of wrestlers walk by from Centennial; Braxton sees me and the rest is history. Married and baby on the way, 9 years later!
Amy Crow Sunleaf ’90 & Art Sunleaf ’89
For me it was my freshman year in Philosophy 101 in the Buckmaster Room. I remember being struck by Art’s quirky sense of humor on the first day of class when he randomly presented Dr. Alexander with a can of Spam. I thought to myself, “I gotta get to know this guy, he seems fun.”
Helen (Sutter) ’66 & Dale ’65 Fridley
I met Helen when I started going out with her roommate. Soon I was arranging double dates so that Helen and I would be on the same date—different partners. We developed a magic that is still strong 55 years later.
Megan (Ryan) ’07 & Michael Gleason
I returned to Wartburg to work in Admissions after a year away; Michael was working in Pathways at the time. During a SOAR event I was in charge of keeping parents and students out of the faculty area and almost tried to remove Michael from the room since I didn’t recognize him from my time at Wartburg as a student. We later met through mutual friends and spent 5 years at Wartburg before we left and have since returned (Michael is the director of Wartburg’s Institute for Leadership Education).
Janet (Westphal) ’55 & George ’54 Hanusa
Janet, from Cedar Falls, Iowa, and I, from Reedsburg, Wisconsin, met in the Den, the cafe/soda fountain located in the basement of Wartburg Hall. I was a soda jerk and she was a dishwasher. Our 65th wedding anniversary will be Aug. 4, 2021!
Kyle Huegel ’09 & Erika Randall
I met a Luther College grad via a Wartburg friend — and we just got married in December. I guess miracles do happen!! (Photo credit: Brittany Todd Photography)
Laura (Mackey) ’12 & Kyle ’12 Jaeger
We met at orientation in 2008, but in February 2011, he said we should get coffee sometime. That turned into regular breakfast dates at the K-Dit and walking me home to the Manors when he lived in Löhe. Countless phone calls kept us connected during his semester at Wartburg West, summers working at different camps, and years of living in different states. After all this time, we tied the knot in the Wartburg Chapel in August 2020.
Paulette (Pinnow) ’74 & Dan ’72 Kilts
Dan was my transportation to Wartburg and fellow church member at home. We were engaged in his Beetle outside of Fred’s SuperValu at the edge of campus fall of 1972. Look happy then and still are.
Jennifer (Lohmann) ’92 & Brian ’92 King
One day in Western Civilization class, a friend/classmate was asking if I had anybody I was interested in dating. A game of 20 questions ensued and a certain person (Brian King) was eavesdropping and felt certain that he was the six-foot-tall, blond-haired, blue-eyed football player I was describing. He was not. However, it helped him muster the courage to ask me out and the rest, as they say, is history.
Le Ora Lee (Olson) ’58 & Roger Lageshulte ’60
We met as freshmen in 1956 in a class called Building Your Marriage. We were married in June 1958, by the Rev. Wm. Weiblen in St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Waverly. On June 7, 2021, we will celebrate our 63rd anniversary.
Meredith (Stuhmer) ’60 & Wendell ’56 Liemohn
Dr. Edwin Liemohn was the head of the music department, my major advisor, and director of the Wartburg Choir, of which I was fortunate to be a member. I loved him and his wife, Clara. I heard a lot about their son, Wendell, who was off in the U. S. Navy. My senior year he came back to Wartburg as a football coach. One day we met walking across campus and I said “Hi, Wendy!” and he paid attention. We celebrated our 60th wedding anniversary January 29.
Shayla (Hopp) ’14 & Chris ’14 McIntyre
Our moms knew each other for years but Chris and I had never met (lived 15 minutes apart our whole lives). They were both worried their kids would go off to college and not have any friends and insisted we meet. We had our IS 101 class together and then sat together in band. After 6 months of asking, I finally agreed to go out with Chris, and we’ve been together since!
Stephanie (Mangels) ’02 & Matt ’02 McNamara
It started between two friends who met in the Complex and culminated surrounded by family and friends in the Wartburg Chapel when Pastor Trachte married us 17.5 years ago! Student Senate, Co-Ed Dance Team Routines, Cutest Couple Award at Choir Formal, Sesquicentennial Celebration, European Tour, Young Alumni Award… our Wartburg love story is full of amazing memories!
Rachel (Thorson) ’77 & Jack ’77 Mithelman
We met very early in our freshman year music classes, started dating mid-way through our junior year, and were married during the summer following graduation. Along with making music together, we have also shared careers as ELCA pastors.
Joshua & Tony PeterSmith
Tony was a graduate student intern, working in Admissions, when he found my “new graphic designer hire” update in The Juice. Curious and looking for new friends in the Cedar Valley, he looked me up on Facebook—and what he discovered triggered his Gaydar. Feigning a reason to meet, he visited the Marketing & Communication office with a flash drive, looking for the college logo for “a presentation.” A few probing Lync messages back and forth later, we swapped anticipation for the new Taylor Swift album—and eventually—phone numbers.
Annita (Watson) ’77 & Richard ’77 Rettig
May Term 1975, we both signed up for a marine biology course at the Gulf Coast Research Lab in Ocean Springs, MS, with Dr. Stephen Main. There were about a dozen students in our group and we stayed in dorms on the lab grounds. We had to do our own cooking, so we drew names for cooking partners. It was the “luck of the draw” that paired us up; and the rest, as they say, is history! We were engaged eight months later and will celebrate our 44th wedding anniversary in May.
Heidi (Gaulke) ’08 & Clint ’05 Riese
Our parents would like to think we met in Biology 101 (where we first noticed each other), but we reallllly met at Joe’s (and it worked out!). We can’t believe that was 16 years ago now. Clint was a senior and Heidi was a freshman, and he moved to Waverly after graduation so he essentially got to experience Wartburg for another three years. We fondly — and often — reflect on those first encounters like Clint tracking Heidi down while she worked at the Mensa, parties at the International House, watching the early days of reality TV from a futon in Vollmer, and squeezing in quick lunch dates while Clint was on break from his work at the newspaper. We were both rare Wisconsinites who happened to find our way to a small school and cute town in Iowa — and into each other’s lives, for good!
Amy (DeJardin) ’07 & Andrew ’07 Salvaterra
First semester freshman year, we had four classes together, but it took until second semester when we were paired up as partners in our Broadcast Production class for us to finally get to know each other and start dating. 17 years later I am still incredibly thankful that Professor McMillan did what I was too nervous to do!
Nancy (Pinter) ’73 & William ’73 Schuldt
We met in our first year biology class. Seating was alphabetical. There were no last names between P and S so we were lab partners. We married in ’72. We’ll celebrate 49 years in May. Thanks, Wartburg!
Ashley DeLong ’23 & Luke Shaffer ’23
I met this beautiful girl at our mutual friend’s birthday party, and weirdly enough we didn’t even start talking until the COVID pandemic. The entire time we were at home we talked over the phone daily, and made plans about what we would do when we go back to campus. I don’t think a day goes by where we aren’t together, and I’m so thankful Wartburg allows us to be in-person for that exact reason. Ashley is the one reason I am grateful for the situation we’re in with this pandemic, and I’m so ready to go back to a normal world with the love of my life.
Erin (Grandgenett) ’07 & Stuart ’08 Spencer
After marketing himself in our daily walks after 7:45 a.m. Principles of Marketing class, I finally said yes to a first date fall of our junior year. Senior year took us both to Wartburg West, where our love grew through our explorations of Denver. We married in 2009 and welcomed triplet “Knights in training” in 2013. Our love story built its foundation at Wartburg!
Becky (Hertenstein) ’94 & Nathan ’94 Tomlinson
Met first day of fall term freshman year in 1990… together ever since.
Mallory (Swigart) ’19 & Daniel ’20 Volkmann
I was performing in Kastle Kapers and he was the friendly Neumann worker who set up my mic! Singing in Castle Singers together for two years is where we grew closer and he became my best friend. Due to Covid, we weren’t able to be married in the Wartburg Chapel as we originally hoped for, but we were still able to have our first look photos taken right outside of it.
Kelsey (Scherven) ’13 & Tyler ’12 Winkey
Kelsey and Tyler met in LS 115, Exploring Elements of Leadership with Dr. Bill Withers. Apparently leadership wasn’t all they were there to explore! As they sat across the aisle from each other, their note passing turned into conversations, then a group project, and eventually a date after the semester ended. The rest is history!
Bonnie (Stubbe) ’73 & John ’73 Zittergruen
Bonnie and I met our freshman year in Dr. Hertel’s biology class. We got married two years later and lived in the married student trailer court. Celebrating 50 years this summer.
Beckie (Myer) ’74 & Dale ’73 Ziemer
We met — Beckie freshman, Dale sophomore — with the winter dance in December 1970 as our first big date. We celebrated the 50th anniversary of that event in 2020!
