Washburn Sweethearts
By Catherine Fahey

Donny Osmond called it Puppy Love, but two couples who met their mates at Washburn prove that high school romances can endure.

We all remember them—maybe we even envied them—those teenaged lovers sharing a kiss or a dreamy-eyed gaze between classes. To comfort ourselves over an unbroken string of dateless Friday nights, we might have muttered, “It won’t last!”

We were wrong.

	Theresa Simondet Ohme and Dale Ohme

Two high-school couples—Julie Pettersen Leslie and Tim Leslie, and Theresa Simondet Ohme and Dale Ohme (WHS ’75)—had the good fortune and the maturity to find their life partners at Washburn and create long-lasting, happy marriages.

Both couples vividly recall their first encounters.

Theresa spied Dale at a wrestling match. “My first impression: how cute he looked in his wrestling gear!” laughs Theresa. Soon after, Theresa broke the ice at a Washburn football game when she and friends Cari Tarbell and Kath Hirsch kidded Dale and his buddies that they were blocking the view. “Later that night, we all went to a party down by the ‘Hidden Bridge,’ and the rest is history!” says Theresa.

From the beginning, Theresa and Dale shared important values and interests. “We did everything together, but we also did our own things as well,” she says. “I remember being up in the stands (at wrestling matches) with my mother, Marlene, and Dale’s mom, Bonnie, along with other family and friends. We would replicate the moves, and it must have been hilarious to watch us,” she says.

Theresa’s fond high school memories also include trips with Dale to the Malt Shop and Washburn basketball games and joining him in intramural volleyball games. During their times apart, Theresa would go on ski trips while Dale preferred camping or motorcycling.

For Julie and Tim, true romance did not begin until senior year. Still, Julie recalls that Tim made an indelible impression in Mr. Flugstad’s 10th-grade homeroom. “I’d see his boxers showing above his pants, and I thought that was really cute! I also remember thinking he was a nice person with a lot of energy and a really hard worker,” she says.

Tim returns the compliment. “Julie was very attractive, of course. But I also liked that she was bright, smart, energetic. She was interesting and could carry on a conversation. Even then, she wouldn’t just look at me dreamily and have no opinion,” he says. Tim also enjoyed visiting Julie’s home and getting to know her family.

For both couples, falling in love was easy. But growing in love and commitment was something only time could teach.

As Theresa and Dale married and had two sons—Eric, 27, and Adam, 25, and “our proudest accomplishments,”—Dale grew to admire his wife’s emphasis on family and hard work. “Being from a family of 12 children might explain that one!” says Theresa.

Over time, Theresa has been increasingly impressed by Dale’s faithfulness to his friends. “Dale has remained involved in people’s lives, and he makes a point of staying in touch on a consistent basis.”

	Julie Pettersen Leslie and Tim Leslie

“Dale and I both agree on what keeps couples together—accepting people for who they are and not trying to change them. We grew up together, but we were never afraid to be ourselves and do things we wanted to do, even if it meant not doing it with one another,” notes Theresa.

Like the Ohmes, Tim and Julie credit their four children with providing some of the happiest and proudest moments in their lives together. (They are Laura, 21; Dan, 19; Peter, 16; and Mary, 6.) They agree that meeting so young at Washburn has been a plus. “Basically, we grew up together,” says Julie. “We have common backgrounds and a lot of memories to share. When we go to high school reunions, we both know people, and we have shared the good and the bad. Would we marry again? Absolutely!”

For Tim, love truly gets richer with age. Recently, Julie and Tim were at a high school event for one of their children when a nubile young thing sat down next to Tim. “I turned to Julie and I said, ‘Are they cute, or are they just young?’ We just looked at each other and laughed!”

“After all these years, I say to people, ‘The grey hair and wrinkles are well-earned, and I take pride in them,’ ” says Tim. “Love is a word you grow to know after you’ve been together awhile—it’s different from when you’re 17. Faith and trust and commitment—those sound like boring words to some people, but if one of us has a rough day, the other one is there to pick them up. We have our moments of disagreement, of course, but the love endures.”

	About the Author...
			Catherine Fahey writes about science and the environment and also�provides intuitive readings for people who want to communicate with their spirit guides. She lives with her husband, John Tibbetts, and�their 13-year-old son, Ben, in Charleston, South Carolina.