Cardinal Love Stories

Submit your Cardinal Love Story at alumni@lamar.edu

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Caroline (Olson) ’65 and Carl Wiggins ‘64

Caroline and I met as physics majors at what was then called Lamar Tech and began dating in 1962. We both received the B.S. in physics from Lamar but Caroline was the first female to do so. We were married in 1965 while graduate students in physics at Sam Houston State College where, a year later, I received the M.S. in physics. We moved to Las Cruces, New Mexico, where I began work on my physics Ph.D. at New Mexico State University. Our son Jonathon was born there in 1969. Caroline managed the ballistic camera data reduction group at the Physical Science Laboratory at NMSU for six years and, after switching science fields, completed her B.S. in biology. We moved to Albuquerque in 1973 where I begin working for the BDM Corp., then a small professional science and engineering firm doing contract work mostly for the Air Force and Army.

Caroline earned her Ph.D. in medical science (physiology) at Albuquerque’s University of New Mexico in 1981, becoming a research associate in the UNM Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology where she developed and operated an infertility screening and steroid radioimmunoassay laboratory that received College of American Pathologists accreditation. Later, she was a lecturer in the UNM Department of Mathematics and Statistics, teaching calculus, algebra and trigonometry to a wide range of students, including university level, adult remedial, and elementary school teachers on-site at Albuquerque area native American pueblos.

Over 32 years from 1973 as BDM grew to become BDM International with about 4,000 employees, then merging with Ford Aerospace, followed by TRW Mission Systems and finally with Northrop Grumman Mission Systems, I grew in responsibility serving as both project and line manager as well as new program developer via applied technology marketing. Most of my projects were centered around applications of nuclear, electromagnetic, optic and laser technologies to most branches of the U.S. military, including their research organizations, numerous U.S. National Labs, as well as to commercial clients such as public electric utilities and the Electric Power Research Institute. I retired from Northrop Grumman in 2005 as senior principal scientist.

We moved to Friendswood in 1992 to be close to aging parents. Caroline taught physics, mathematics and biology at high schools in Webster, Pearland and League City until retiring in 2005. I unretired and, for the next seven years until retiring for good in 2012, worked, mostly remotely, for a small Maryland-based company, Sensor Concepts and Applications Inc. We celebrated our diamond wedding anniversary in September 2025.

Nia (Williams) and Anthony Alex ’18

Our Cardinal Love Story is a serendipitous one! We met in October 2014 at a concert featuring the Cardinal Jazz Orchestra and the Cardinal Jazz Singers. We both are musicians. I volunteered as an alto singer in the CJS (I wasn’t a student at LU but had participated in many music groups on campus over the years), and Anthony was one of the percussionists in the jazz orchestra. We caught each other’s eye instantly, but it was not until August 2015 that we would get the chance to see each other again. I made a last-minute decision to volunteer again, and it was the same semester Anthony decided to join the Cardinal Jazz Singers. He introduced himself to me. We got to know each other, became friends, and the rest is history! We were married in December 2024 surrounded by loved ones and just celebrated our anniversary!

Nancy (Duhon) and Michael Webb ’78

Several students from Orange County schools sat together in the Setzer Center between classes. Some of us were already friends or cousins, but all of us became friends during that time. I met my wife, Nancy, playing Spades (card game) there. We started dating in November 1976 during her first semester.  After I graduated in May 1978 and took a job with Texas Eastern in Houston, we were married the following August. Nancy graduated from Texas Woman’s University in 1980. We are both retired and living in The Woodlands. We celebrated out 47th anniversary last August. 

Tonya (Manuel) -13 and Steven Srader ’09

Tonya and I met at a social gathering at the ATO house, where I was president at the time. She likes to remind me often that crazy things can happen when you steal people’s chairs (she didn’t call seat back). After I graduated, she continued her education in Early Childhood Education until my job transferred us to Dallas. Now, I work with Beaumont Coca-Cola Bottling Co., and she is a teacher with West Orange Cove school district. We currently live in Port Neches with our son (6) and our 4 dogs.

Rena ’19 and Timothy Stewart ’19

We met and fell in love in high school, but we owe all our success to Lamar University. We had two beautiful sons and got married but decided we wanted to finish college. Almost 10 years later, we decided to enroll at Lamar and pursue our degrees together. Timothy graduated in May 2019 with a bachelor’s in social work, and I graduated in December 2019 with a B.S. in nursing—2019 was a great year for the Stewarts!