When Shannon Holley graduated from Woodrow in 1989 and left for UT Austin, she broke family tradition. After all, her parents are both SMU Mustangs.
Shannon has mitigated her unfortunate matriculation by reviving another ritual – marrying another Wildcat.
Parents Steve ’66 and Pagett Daves Holley ’66 actually met at Lakewood Elementary. But love bloomed at Woodrow, where he was a cheerleader, and she was a Sweetheart (the germane name of our drill team).
Shannon married Navy Ensign James T. Nadalini ’88 (U.S. Naval Academy ’92) last summer.
Welcome to the internecine intrigue of Woodrow romances. Beginning with the clap of thunder that electrified the evening of the school’s first open house in September 1928, the ‘Cats have been a-courtin’.
The submarine races at White Rock Lake were invented just as it became possible to fog up the windows of a Model A – Model T’s were more breezy.
And the legendary Lady of the Lake always asks to be driven to an address on Gaston Avenue. Could she be the victim of Wildcat love?
At the Class of 1942 Golden Reunion, more than 30 couples were identified as didymous Wildcats – that is, still married to other Woodrow alums. That doesn’t count the people who may have been widowed or divorced.
I remember a few from my own disco days in the Class of 1976 who married “within Woodrow”: Shannon ’76 and Carla Healy Bailey ’76, Robert ’76 and Genie Degenhart Whalen ’76, and Dr. Mike ’76 and Joann Ball Dixon ’75.
Another thought: Perhaps these inter-generation nuptials may explain why Woodrow alums are “a breed apart” – or, as our enemies might describe us, Krazy Kats.
Of the myriad marriages, it’s difficult to single out just a few examples, but I’ll try:
Power Couples
These partnerships have brought prominence to: former Mayor and Cullum CEO Jack ’40 and Gene Watson Evans ’40; frozen margarita inventor and restaurateur Mariano ’63 and Wanda Wade Martinez ’67; businessman Darby ’55 and Kay Strickland ’57; Realtor Dick ’51 and Chloe Clements ’53; Lakewood civic leaders Gerry ’74 and Jan Mills Worrall ’74; banker Milton ’48 and Ruthie Nelson Thomas ’51; U.S. Rep. Sam ’47 and Shirley Melton Johnson ’47; numismatist John ’55 and Patricia Hensley Rowe ’59; retired Sun Oil Venezuela manager Davis and Dr. Cecil Crow from one of the very early classes (you might know Davis’ brother, Fred Trammell Crow ’32); and retired ARCO CEO William ’40 and Keith Ann Kieschnick ’42.
The Kieschnicks didn’t know each other at Woodrow. Serendipity stepped in later in life. They met in California, where they now live in the wine country, and discovered their mutual lineage.
Love in Late-Bloom
There are others who delay destiny. Maybe Cupid’s arsenal includes time-released love arrows.
Gayle ’56 and Jackie Kuykendall Foster ’56 married following their 25th class reunion. So did Robert ’61 and Sandy Connell Tyler Kelley ’61, also after their 25th.
And Rex ’70 and Pam Buchmeyer Aymond ’78 have some explaining to do if he dated her while she attended Lakewood Elementary.
There are too many red-hot and gray romances to list here. And if we expand the subject beyond matrimony to the long-lost, unrequired and crushes…
Love means never having to say you’re sorry, so if you have a Woodrow love story to relate, please send it to the address below. Be sure to include class years and maiden names.
I’ll try to include it in a future column or association newsletter.
