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Professors reminisce about meeting their loves

One professor married his roommate's fiancée. Friends, jazz and the "best legs on campus" drew another professor and his wife together. A third couple were high school sweethearts. Here is a tale of how five Multnomah professors met their sweethearts.

Jon Aldrich introduced his brother, Tim, a professor at Multnomah Bible College, to his future wife, Barbra. He gave Dr. Aldrich her phone number, encouraging him to call. Because his last date had been 25-30 years earlier, Dr. Aldrich recalled feeling "like a nervous teenager" when he called Barbra. Her voice, however, captivated Dr. Aldrich. "It's very intriguing," Dr. Aldrich said. "I still today like to hear her on the phone."

That first phone call lasted 30 minutes and ended with an agreement to keep calling each other. Two weeks later, Dr. Aldrich decided to meet Barbra in person. That Friday night, Dr. Aldrich asked Barbra out for lunch at Ivar's, a seafood restaurant on the Seattle waterfront. Barbra accepted and said she would wear a green coat so he could recognize her.

Smiling, Dr. Aldrich recalled standing outside of Ivar's looking for a woman wearing a green coat. Dr. Aldrich said one woman in a green coat walked up who was "pretty good looking." He thought, "Man this is nice." Seeing her three kids, however, Dr. Aldrich realized "it's time to wake up. I was no longer 35."

Dr. Aldrich laughed, remembering a second woman in a green coat. He said: "Then a second gal came up. She was kind of hard looking--kind of hard as nails. I said, 'Whoa, I am in trouble.' She was obviously looking for somebody, just screening, looking all around. I said to myself, 'I'm out of here--[I] never made it to Seattle.'"

When Barbra finally arrived, they recognized each other immediately. "We spent about 12 hours together on that first date and ended the evening with dinner at Denny's," Dr. Aldrich said. "It was as if we had known each other for all of these years. We had a delightful time."

Dr. Aldrich and Barbra saw each other weekly after that first date. "One of the things that was convincing to me was she loved the outdoors," Dr. Aldrich said. He was driving a tractor when Barbra asked to drive. "She gets up on that thing," Dr. Aldrich said, "and starts cutting donuts. I thought, 'This is the woman for me!'" He added, "Barbra is rustic and refined. She is a real God-send." Dr. Aldrich and Barbra married in May 1994, three months after their first date.

One little choice changed MBC Bible and theology professor David Needham's life 45 years ago. Two years after graduating from Westmont College, Mr. Needham returned to attend homecoming. Mr. Needham planned to drive into town to buy a corsage for his homecoming banquet date. He went into the student lounge and asked if anybody needed a ride to town. Mary Jo, an acquaintance whom he had known two years earlier, said yes. She also needed to buy a boutonniere for her homecoming date.

"After we got the flowers taken care of, we started toward campus and we just started talking," Mr. Needham said. "I can't remember too much about it, except I know we didn't go straight back to campus. We just drove all around the hills. It was a very enjoyable time. I never thought of my falling in love with her. It was a special time, but I had no thought of what would come of it." They saw each other most of the following summer, however, and married two years later in July 1954.

In reflection, Mr. Needham said: "So often students assume the time they really need to pray is when they come to the big crossroads in their life, and it's right to. The only thing is, most of us don't know when a little choice turns out to be life-changing. And the little choice I made to walk into that student lounge and ask if anybody needed a ride changed my whole life." That is why it is so important to wake up in the morning and invite God to be part of your whole life, Mr. Needham said.

Brad Harper, an MBC theology professor, met his wife, Robin, while they attended Biola University in 1980. They met working at a student food co-op. Dr. Harper and Robin became good friends when Robin dated and became engaged to Dr. Harper's roommate. "I spent a lot of time with them so I knew her really well, but only as a friend because she was my roommate's girlfriend. When you're a guy, that's the unwritten rule: You stay away from your roommate's girlfriend."

After college, Dr. Harper went to a seminary in Texas. Robin and her fiancée decided against marriage. Several years later, both Dr. Harper and Robin were in a mutual friend's wedding party. After the wedding, Dr. Harper invited Robin to visit his family and tour San Francisco with him. Enjoying their time together, they pursued the relationship. Dr. Harper transferred to Talbot Seminary in California to be closer to Robin. They married in June 1984.

Dr. Harper said a long friendship helped the relationship. "She made the major decision in her life," Dr. Harper said, "based on her study of God's Word, prayer and advice from godly people. That just makes for a great woman, somebody who is going to be a great partner, somebody who is trustworthy and you can count on for life, a good mother, and indeed that's exactly what's happened."

Common friends and an affinity for jazz drew MBC history professor Dr. Dan Scalberg and his wife, Kimberly, together in 1991.

During Kimberly's senior year at Multnomah, she moved in with Dr. Scalberg's best friend's girlfriend. The relationship began through those friends and a common enjoyment of live music, particularly jazz. "The romantic attractions were largely her legs," Dr. Scalberg said. "The word was out she had the best pair of legs on campus." Four years at Multnomah showed Kimberly's strong spiritual commitment, Dr. Scalberg said. "Given these common interests and commitments, it provided fertile ground for a relationship to spring forth from," Dr. Scalberg said.

They dated for a year and then broke up. Eight months later they went to premarital counseling, realizing they could work out their concerns. Dr. Scalberg knew he wanted to marry Kimberly when he realized she would fight for the relationship. Dr. Scalberg and Kimberly married three months later in December 1992.

Multnomah Biblical Seminary women ministry's Professor Virginia Adduci and her husband, Doug, met at a high school dance in Story City, Iowa, in the spring of 1967. Doug had noticed Mrs. Adduci in the hallway at school. At the dance, Doug's friends encouraged him to ask her for a dance. She accepted his invitation, and they danced slowly to an Andy William's song. That dance led to a serious relationship and a life-long friendship.

Mrs. Adduci knew she wanted to marry Doug early in the relationship, but they waited till her last year of college in Nov. '72. "He is a real marvelous individual," Mrs. Adduci said, "very supportive and encouraging and has always been that way."

Mrs. Aducci felt Doug would be a great father. "We grew up together," Mrs. Aducci said. "We went through high school together and then on to college. I think that bears a real specialness to the life-long process. I spent more time with him than with anyone else in my life. There is just a real companionship and understanding."