Albion alum share how they met their romantic partners
Albion College alum Laura Swan MacMorran ’92 literally found her love match on the dance floor. Not that Gordon MacMorran ’90 was a great dancer or even saw dancing as a favorite pasttime.
Rather, Gordon understood dancing was a big part of Laura’s life and that taking an interest in something important to her would help him get to know her.
“Even though Gordon rarely danced, he understood that dancing brought me joy. The music freely ran through my body and I could not sit still,” Laura said. “So many a Saturday night in the basement of the Delt Sig house, he literally met me where I was at. His actions demonstrated two things. First, that he would show up for me and, second, that he was down for a good time.”
Married for nearly 40 years, the MacMorran’s are amongst the many Smitten Britons who left Albion College with both a solid liberal arts education and a romantic partner. As we celebrate Valentine’s Day, we visit some of those stories.
The MacMorran’s were the only couple which met on the dance floor. During his sophomore year, Bruce Berdnt ’61 took a ballroom dance class. There, he met Helen Nott ’62.
“I was quite introverted at the time and wanted to increase my sociality. Helen took the course because she thought that it would be an easy A,” Bruce said. “At times, we danced together, and I summoned the courage to ask her for a date to attend a play on campus.”
On the day of their first date, Bruce was injured during a chemistry experiment. Glass and chemicals flew in the air and some landed in his hair and on his face. He was taken for medical care.
“Thus, when I called for Helen that evening at Susanna Wesley, I had several bandages in my hair and on my face. The play was in South Hall, across the street from Baldwin Hall, and, despite my initial appearance, we went on several subsequent dates.”
“While Helen could spell my last name, it took six weeks before she summoned the courage to ask me how to pronounce my last name,” he said.
In 1963, they were married.
Showing up for each other
Leah Kolanowski (Joynt) ’17 said she realized Ben Kolanowski ’17 was the one for her as she navigated treacherous Michigan roads during the winter.
“I drove back to Albion in the middle of a massive snowstorm just to go to an event he invited me to,” she recalled. “What should’ve been a two-hour drive took several hours, but I still went, which was very out of character for me. Ten years later, we’re married, and I’d still make that drive every time.”
A heart of gold
Dan Williams Jr. ’05 met Danielle Farnsworth ’04 and developed a friendship with her during the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. He remembers the moment he fell in love with her.
“It was my sophomore year and her junior year. She was a transfer from Lansing Community College. One day, I met a young man outside of Wesley Hall,” Dan recalled. “The young man looked tired and sad. He wasn’t a college student. He was hungry and needed a ride to a family member’s [home].”
“I didn’t have a vehicle. But I knew Danielle lived in Wesley so I called her extension and told her what was going on. Danielle came down with food and offered to give the young man a ride in her old, red Toyota pickup,” Dan said. “To be safe, I didn’t want her riding alone so the three of us drove him to his grandmother’s. On the way back I found myself amazed at the kindness in this woman’s heart. I had a little crush on her (and later I found she liked me too) but that night it magnified from seeing how loving a person she is. Little did I know I was riding with the woman I’d marry some six years later.”
They’ve been married for almost 18 years.