UC Love Stories: Lori and Dirk Richards

Dirk (’84) and Lori (’83) Richards at the Sugar Bowl

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner… and what could be a better way for us to celebrate than by sharing some of our favorite UC love stories! Today, we’re bringing you the story of Lori and Dirk Richards, who currently reside in the Pierce Township area in Cincinnati.

On their second date, Lori (Shepherd) Richards (’83) knew her life with future husband Dirk Richards (’84) would be never be dull. Recalls Lori, “A funny thing happened on our second date; the Triangle fraternity spring formal, which took place on a B&B Riverboat.  A popular song at that time, ‘Super Freak’ must have been a favorite of the disc jockey, because he played it MANY times during the evening.  At one point during the evening, Dirk said, ‘If he plays that song one more time, I am going to throw that album into the river!’”

You can probably guess what happened next…

“We were on the top deck of the boat when the song was played again.  Dirk ran down the steps, with me right behind him.  He slapped a five dollar bill on the table, ripped the album off the turntable, and flung it into the river!  Later, we discovered that the album did not belong to the disc jockey, but to one of his fraternity brothers!  That should have been a sign to me that my life would NEVER be dull,” Lori says, laughing at the recollection.

Lori and Dirk met during a “crush” party at her sorority, Kappa Delta, in 1982. Although Dirk wasn’t one Lori’s three invited “crushes”, they hit it off. A few weeks later, they enjoyed their first date at the Kappa Delta spring dance/hayride at Handlebar Ranch. The next night, they went on their second date, site of the infamous record-throwing incident.

According to Lori, Dirk’s and her time at UC consisted of “normal” college activities – Homecoming parades, Greek formals, football games, study dates – punctuated by moments of sweetness spent planning their life together while walking around campus.

“We did not formally get engaged on UC’s campus, but we first started talking about marriage one night when Dirk was pulling an ‘all-nighter’ at DAAP (where he was an industrial design major),” says Lori.  “I took a pizza over to him, and in the room where we were eating, there was a poster on a wall about studying in Europe. Dirk said that he wanted to go there on our honeymoon.  This was the first time he spoke about marriage, so needless to say, I was shocked!”

The couple became engaged in April of 1984, while Dirk was a senior at UC and Lori was employed in her first teaching position. The couple married in November of that same year.

Do you have a great UC love story to share? Comment below and tell us how you met your spouse or significant other at UC!