Twin
Valentine Brothers Find Love at Ambrose
posted: Feb. 14, 2005
by: Heather Venema, SAU juniorIt seems as though every
year, students watch fellow classmates fall in love, get
engaged, and begin planning their weddings. But at one time
on the SAU campus, twin brothers Doug and Dick
Valentine (both '86) experienced "love at first sight" at nearly the same time.
And although the twins are
fraternal, the similarities between their stories is almost
amazing.
Doug and Dick were Hall
of Fame football players at St. Ambrose all four years of
their college careers, and both majored in business
administration and marketing. Both brothers got engaged a
day apart of one another, and married in 1988.
The Valentine twins came
to St. Ambrose from Dubuque Wahlert High School, where Dick
had met and begun dating Mary Hartkop. Mary, one year
younger than Dick, decided to pursue her undergraduate
degree at the University of Iowa, and the two embarked on a
long-distance relationship. Meanwhile, basketball player and
physical education major Amy Herrig had caught Doug’s eye.
Amy and Doug had been in
class together, but didn’t really talk to one another until
they met at a party. They began dating near the end of their
sophomore year, and Doug wrote Amy letters all summer long
to keep in touch.
“We had our first two
years on campus to spread our wings, but those last two
years we were really able to spend a lot of quality time
together,” Doug says. “We had a lot of fun just hanging out
in East Hall (Rohlman).” As Dick, Doug and Amy were entering
their final semester at the then named St. Ambrose College,
Mary decided to transfer to St. Ambrose from Iowa in January of 1986.
“Although I lived off
campus with my parents in Bettendorf, it was nice to walk
over to Dick’s room in between classes,” Mary says. Dick, of
course, was very happy with the college transfer.
“I remember dances on
campus without her and how much I missed her,” Dick says.
“My last semester at Ambrose with her gave me some of the
best memories of my life.” Dick, Doug and Amy graduated in
May of 1986, and Mary finished in December of 1987.
While the two couples
got engaged at nearly the same time, they decided not to
have a double wedding. Doug and Amy were married on June 25,
1988 at Our Lady of Victory in Davenport, and had a
reception afterwards in South Hall, which is known now as
Cosgrove. They currently live in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and have
three sons: 13-year-old Mitchell, 11-year-old
Carter, and 9-year-old Ben. Doug is an agent for State
Farm Insurance, and Amy stays home with the boys.
Dick and Mary opted for
a wedding closer to Valentine’s Day, and were married on
Feb. 13, 1988, just a few months after Mary’s
graduation. They were married at Our Lady of Lourdes in
Bettendorf and reside in Naperville, Illinois. And remember the
similarities from before? Dick and Mary have three
children, this time all girls, including a set of twins.
Taylor and Nicole are both 11, and Samantha is 7.
Mary takes care of their daughters, and like his brother,
Dick is also an agent for State Farm Insurance.
And how do these
"Valentines" celebrate the upcoming holiday? “It’s hard as
you chase kids around for basketball games, but we always
enjoy going out to dinner and giving each other small
gifts,” Doug says.
“We combine our
anniversary and Valentine’s Day and try to spend a little
time together,” Dick says. “But I always have a very sweet
Valentine.”
The two families see
each other five to six times a year.
I met my wife at SAU in band. Come to find out, we had
played in previous bands together during high school music
contests without even knowing each other. St. Ambrose
brought us together. This year we will be married for 13
years. We have two kids. My sister, Mary Hartkop, married
Dick Valentine who was featured in the latest Valentines
Day edition. We are a big SAU family. Thank you SAU!
Mike Hartkop and Jill (Mescher) Hartkop
***************
Hello! Way back in
1996, I met the love of my life at St. Ambrose! Ryan
Koning lived in the Schneider townhouse with his hilarious
friends (Jon , Paul, Jason and Chris). One of my best
friends (Angie, who worked in Financial Aid) was going out
with Jon. Angie and Jon introduced me to Ryan at RIBCO in
October of 1996. We would meet up at Ambrose and hang out.
Ryan and I were simply just “friends” for a long
time. I’ll never forget how much fun the Last Blast of
1997 was, the bands in particular were awesome! Anyhow,
after a while of my stalking Ryan (kind of kidding) we
finally went to an Ambrose Homecoming dance together. It
was a blast, yet we were still just friends.
Ryan was a bit shy and I’m a little crazy, so the
process took a while. We started dating in October of
1997. The wait was more than worth it! In New Orleons on
May 13, 1999 Ryan purposed to me on a balcony in the
French Quarter. A year later we got married at St.
Anthony’s Church and I love him more than ever! This May
we will be celebrating our 5 year anniversary!
Ryan obtained his B.A. in graphic design, he is
currently a designer at Gemvision in Davenport. I have
obtained my B.A. in Psychology and Early Childhood
Education at St. Ambrose.
We still keep in touch with our Ambrose pals! I will be
forever grateful for meeting Ryan at Ambrose, we would of
never met if it wasn’t for St. Ambrose University!
Jen Koning
***************
A few years ago, 1985, I
met Sheila Heffron of Centerville, Ia. She was working
in the library for her work-study job. At this time, 100
percent of research was conducted by searching through
books at the library. Some books could not be checked
out so we were forced to photo copy pages at 10 cents
each. I (Joe McGreal of Elkader, Ia.) had little
experience operating a copy machine let alone a coin
operated one. Most of the copies I ran failed so I went
back to get more dimes. I explained how poor I was and
needed help. With a heart as big as Christ the King
Chapel, she took pity on me and started giving me copies
without paying for all of them. I thanked her and
remembered how unusual that someone would let me have
some copies for no cost.
Her work-study job changed to the Beehive, where she
was a bartender. (Drinking age was 19 then and St.
Ambrose had a bar on campus). One night I went to the
Beehive and spent a lot of time at the bar pouring on
the charm. The rest is history.
Sheila graduated in 1986 and I in 1987. We married in
June 1988 and she started at Palmer College of
Chiropractic and graduated in 1992. We have 5 kids:
Patrick 13, Dillon 11, Jack 7, Maggie 5 & Colin 3.
We now live in Monticello, Ia. where Sheila has a
practice and I have a sales territory covering Iowa &
Illinois for Ervin Industries of Ann Arbor, Mich.
Joe McGreal
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