Darryl and Lisa met in the lobby of Long Hall on Tuesday, February 3, 1987. Darryl was a second floor RA in Long Hall. That day, Lisa was visiting with her friend, Candace Cooper, who worked as a Staff Assistant at the desk in Long Hall. Darryl, heading out for a dorm staff meeting with Dr. Eugene Dial, walked out of the elevator and saw Lisa for the first time. Darryl shares, “When our eyes met, we knew we had seen ‘forever’.” He and Lisa chatted briefly before his meeting and again when he returned.
Later that evening, Darryl called Lisa and asked her to be his date for Valentine’s dinner the following week. After a whirlwind romance of only nine months, Darryl asked Lisa to marry him on the scoreboard at the Nicholls homecoming football game in November 1987. Nicholls had a new scoreboard with scrolling messages that would run across the top. The message at that game read, “Lisa, will you marry me? Love, Darryl.” Darryl notes that, “The message was supposed to cost me $25, but I never received a bill for it. I think one of my professors may have picked up the tab.” They were married at the Aquinas Center on January 2, 1988, and have been living in Erath, Lisa’s home town, since 1989. Darryl and Lisa just celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary. They have two children. Danielle Theresa Ann Richardelle Downey is 27 and Sydney Marie Kay Richardelle is 22. Sydney is a senior at Nicholls in her last semester and is currently the reigning Ms. Nicholls.
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