An XU Love Story:
Jan 7, 2019
When Pam Met Michael … She Knew They’d Be Together
“We met at lunch in the cafeteria on Feb. 11, 1970 and talked for two hours. I went back to my room at the Villa and told my roommate I was going to marry Mike!”
— Pam Feeney
That was a portion of an email Pam Feeney turned in to Xavier last year as part of the XU Love Story contest, where we asked Xavier grads who’d fallen in love to tell us exactly how it happened.
And while the Feeneys did not win the contest, they were a part of our honorable mention honorees. Still, as our second-year contest rolls around, some of us thought this quote may need some further explanation. To put it simply: We wanted to know the rest of the story.
Drumroll, please.
Pam Feeney, a 1971 graduate, met Mike (’72) on Feb. 11, 1970, in the cafeteria. And yes, it’s true. She says after they talked for two hours, she went back to her room and predicted to her roommate that she would marry that man.
“Mike had just gotten out of the Army and eating lunch with females appealed to him,” Pam says. “Remember, I was one of only five full-time resident women! Good odds.”
He was tall and handsome. And their conversation was so … comfortable.
“We sat and talked for over two hours: nothing earth-moving, just immediately comfortable with each other,” she says. “It was how comfortable we both immediately were that made me feel we were going to be together.”
Turns out she was right. Six months later they were engaged. Eleven months later they were married.
And on Jan. 30, they celebrate their 48th wedding anniversary.
They have two sons in their late 30s, Benjamin Xavier and Robert Francis, and seven grandchildren under the age of 7.
“As to how the marriage goes, we’re both human, so of course there have been ups and downs,” she says, “but he’s my best friend, and I would do it all again.”
So, on this upcoming Valentine’s Day, let’s celebrate all the ways we feel love in our lives.
Share a photo of you and your love with the hashtag #ILoveXandU via the Alumni Facebook page or tag us on Instagram (XU_alumni) between Feb. 1-13. One image will be randomly selected on Feb. 14 and announced on social as the winner. Your prize? One big box of Xavier swag and affection! Not a Facebook or Instagram user? Email us your photo and we’ll try to post it for you. For more details on the contest, visit xavier.edu/lovestory.