Volume 28 · Number 3 · Spring 2011
Alumni profiles
- Peter Stekl '75
- Bruce Jackson, M.S. '76
Alumni: Aggie Love
Many alumni look back on their years at UC Davis with fondness and pride. But some Aggies took away more than memories — they found their life partners. Here are three Aggie love stories.
Kate Baker and Dennis Muldoon
Dennis Muldoon and Kate Baker
Dennis Muldoon '07 and Kate Baker '07 met as members of the Cal Aggie Marching Band-uh, where Dennis played the trombone and Kate played the clarinet. "I remember thinking Dennis was cute when I met him while building the band float in 2004," Kate said. "I thought the same thing," Dennis said, laughing. Their affection grew, and on Picnic Day 2005 they shared their first kiss.
Dennis and Kate both graduated from the College of Engineering. Dennis, a former Unitrans student mechanic, helped to rebuild the body of bus RT 742. They decided to charter that double-decker bus to carry family and friends to their graduation ceremony.
They became engaged in May 2009 at their home in San Diego. "We knew there was only one place for us to get married — Davis," Kate said. Surrounded by family and friends, including Unitrans and Band-uh alumni, Dennis and Kate married last July at the Buehler Alumni and Visitors Center on campus. And leaving the reception, they rode the same double-decker bus.
Even while living in San Diego, Dennis and Kate try to stay actively involved with UC Davis. Both are life members of the Cal Aggie Alumni Association and officers for the San Diego chapter.
Kate is currently pursuing a doctorate in electrical engineering at UC San Diego; Dennis, who discovered a passion for teaching while at UC Davis, teaches high school math.
Mark Miller and Sandy Holman
Sandy Holman and Mark Miller
Mark Miller '85, M.S. '87, Ph.D. '95 and Sandy Holman '87 met in 1985. Sandy and a friend were frantically searching for a place to live near campus, and Mark had two rooms for rent. Mark thought it would be a nice change of pace to have female roommates. Sandy thought that because of their racial differences they would avoid any romantic complications. "I did not find myself attracted to him in the least," Sandy recalled with a smile. "At first we were like brother and sister. We debated politics and social issues."
As their friendship grew, Sandy fixed Mark up with a teammate from her volleyball team. She thought they looked adorable together and counseled Mark as he dated her friend. Eventually Mark and his girlfriend broke up, though, and he and Sandy grew closer.
Sandy didn't recognize the depth of her feelings for Mark, however, until her mom suggested that Sandy was in love. Sandy realized that was true. And Mark felt the same way about her.
By the numbers
25 UC Davis weddings held on campus in 2010
10 Buehler Alumni and Visitors Center weddings in 2010
For information about events, including weddings, at the Buehler Alumni and Visitors Center, contact Kelly Scott at (530) 752-6733 or kdscott@ucdavis.edu.
Four and a half years later in Santa Cruz, Mark asked Sandy to marry him. "I knew he loved me because we had just had a huge fight when he proposed," Sandy says. They recently celebrated their 20th anniversary.
Many people thought their interracial marriage wouldn't last. But they point out that of all the people they knew who married around the same time, they are the only couple still together. "Our love for each other grows each day and we truly bring out the best in each other," Sandy says. "Mark is my spirit soul mate and he calls me his purple princess."
Mark is a computer scientist with the Lawrence Livermore Lab and Sandy is the director of the Culture Co-op in Davis, where she offers cultural diversity training and other services. They live in Davis and have been in the same house for 14 years.
Kevin Mahoney and Karen Denault
Kevin Mahoney and Karen Denault
Kevin Mahoney '74 and Karen "Cappy" Denault met in fall 1971. Kevin, a sophomore, had followed his high school girlfriend to UC Davis, and Karen was a freshman with a boyfriend at UC Irvine.
They lived in Tercero, in the last of the all-male and all-female dorms on campus. The first time they laid eyes on each other was at a get-acquainted dinner organized by resident assistants at Putah Creek Lodge. Kevin and Karen met when the dining service ran out of plastic forks and they decided to share the last one. "Sharing a fork with someone you just met wasn't a big deal back then," Kevin said. "There was definitely an instant attraction."
They became friends, occasionally eating meals together in the dining commons and enjoying walks around Putah Creek. Kevin even coached Karen's dorm powder puff football team. By Thanksgiving, both were single, and then friendship turned to dating.
They were engaged by Christmas 1973 and married in September 1974. After 36 years of matrimony, the Mahoneys have two sons and two grandchildren and live in Roseville. Kevin is the director of Infrastructure and Telecommunications Solutions at Visionary Integration Professionals and Karen is an executive assistant at Sierra College in Rocklin. Kevin is a life member of the Cal Aggie Alumni Association.
Read these and other Aggie love stories on the CAAA website.