Welcome to the Alumni Sweethearts Page
This list was started by Wade Seibert several years ago when a Show Case tribute for Valentine’s Day was staged with vases of flowers and the names of alumni sweethearts. This database has been continued by the Alumni Association with the help of those who notify us to add their names. It has generated a good deal of interest and will be continued so long as you keep us informed. Italics indicate deceased. Please click the PDF File below to view the list in its entirety.We know the list is a bit outdated, so please reach out and let us know of any changes,
Sweetheart Stories
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Every romance has a story and we had hoped to hear from many of our sweethearts when several years ago we asked our graduates through our newsletter, Falcon Pride, to tell us how they met. Most, of course, met at Lower Dauphin, one couple as early as first grade. Here are excerpts from those who were kind enough to share this information with us. In the order of the year of graduation, with each of the first four decades represented, we present "Sweetheart Stories"
Class of 1962
I met my husband Barry at LDHS and we were sweethearts, husband and wife, and business partners for 44 years until his untimely passing on December 14, 2008
Carol Jane (Janie) Banker Wenrich
Class of 1964
I met my sweetheart in ninth grade, the first year that LD opened. The person who was to become my sweetheart wasn’t in any of my classes, but his best friend Bob was in my homeroom. After sch00l one day Bob introduced us. I said “Hi,” and continued to my bus. The next day I saw Ken at his locker and again said, “Hi.” He asked me if I had a minute and proceeded to tell me that someday we would be married. I told him that we were both too young and that I wasn’t even yet allowed to date and certainly was too young to get married. He agreed that we were too young and needed to date other people, but that someday we would get married.
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The following year we were in the same English class with Mrs. Pratt. The boys sat on one side of the room and the girls sat on the other. None of the boys in that classroom ever did their homework except Ken. Mrs. Pratt always went around the room collecting homework from each person; when she got to Ken she would take his homework and without even looking at it she would tear it into pieces and put it back on his desk. Ken never said a word, but, one day Bob asked Mrs. Pratt why she always tore up Ken’s paper and why he was failing that class when the other boys who were not doing their homework were all passing the class. She told bob that it was because Ken wasn’t doing his own homework, that Elaine Fies was. Bob told her that was not true and that Bob himself had seen Ken do his homework. Further, Bob told her, I wasn’t allowed to date, I didn’t have a telephone, and we lived seven miles apart, so I could not be doing his homework. Mrs. Pratt didn’t seem to care; she just assumed Ken liked me because he always waited for me after her class and she said we were too young. Ken failed the class and had to repeat the course the following year. Ken did tell his dad, but his dad told Ken he didn’t believe a teacher would do that.
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His family then moved into Derry Township and he had to go to Hershey High where he was graduated. He was always disappointed to have to leave Lower Dauphin. He and I dated others over the years, but we remained friends and fell in love. After graduation we married and, of course, Bob was our best man. That will be 50 years in 2013 and we are still in love.
Elaine Fies Bechtel
Class of 1969
My sweetheart and husband and I have lived our entire lives in East Hanover Township. Officially we first met at East Hanover Elementary School when we were in first grade. We went to school together until 10th grade at which time he went to Hershey in their Industrial Arts program which Lower Dauphin did not offer. I was graduated in 1969 and I am not sure our 42-year marriage would count as sweethearts or not. I was graduated from Lower Dauphin and my husband was graduated from Hershey as part of the Machine Shop program. He would have been a graduate of LD if we had had such a program. We married in 1971 and had three children all of whom were graduated from Lower Dauphin.
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Lana Eckert Walmer and Dale Walmer
Class of 1978 and 1979
MIndy and I met in my senior year when we were taking Graphic Arts and the rest is history. We have been married now for many years.
John Detweiler '78 and Mindy Grove Detweiler '79
Class of 1981 and 1982
We met when we he was in 10th grade and I was in 11th grade. He actually dated my best friend Tammy, but later I found out he really had a crush on me. Fast forward to 2009 when we met again after 30 years. We started dating and were married on the beach in Ocean City, MD in 2014. I never would have imagined I would marry the boy of my dreams!
Kris Neibert '81 and Scott Eisenbise '82
Class of 1989 and 1990
We met at LD and started dating when he was 16 and I was 15. We were married four years after I was graduated in October 1994. We will be celebrating 19 years together when this book is published in 2013. We have been together now for more than 25 years. We live in Londonderry Township and have two daughters who attend LD. I work for LDSD as a PCA and Vince is in construction.
Athena Amoroso '90 and Vincent Crone '89
Class of 1990
Our friendship began in November of our sophomore year and we were married in August of the year we were graduated. We have been married more than twenty years and now have four daughters!
Jennifer Smith '90 and Barry Shaffer, Jr. '90
Class of 2001 and 2002
We both were working at Hoss’s in Hummelstown. We became friends from there. When I was a senior, I wanted to go to prom with a guy. So, Ike asked me to go to prom together as friends, he was a Jr. Come to find out we only lived a block from each other. After about two months, Ike asked me out on a date. We've been together since then. He graduated and became a wrestling coach for LD. Plus worked for LD. Also, he is a football coach for the Hummelstown Bulldogs. I graduated and became a coach for cheer for the Hummelstown Bulldogs. We are both members of the Hummelstown Fire Dept. I have 5 generations in the fire company. Plus, I am a life member with 25 years of service. Ike is working on his 20th year in the fire company. We have three girls. Samantha is an 8th grader; Makayla is a 7th grader and Kelsey is a 3rd grader. They all go to Lower Dauphin.
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Melissa Deal Fullerton ‘01 and Ike Fullerton ‘02
Class of 2011 and 2012
Mike's mother drove my bus on my very first day of kindergarten at East Hanover. Of course, I had no idea she would eventually be my mother in law! I had heard of Mike throughout elementary school and knew he was my bus driver's son, but it wasn't until indoor drumline in middle school that we became friends. We were in the same friend circle into high school, both involved in music. We started dating in May of 2010 and got married in October 2018. He truly is my best friend and I am thankful every day for how much of our lives we have shared. We now live in East Hanover and look forward to growing our family within the Lower Dauphin community that we both grew up in.
Justine Hilbert '12 Mike Wiltraut '11