Love Among the Catamounts: Celebrating Valentine’s Day at Potomac State
The Potomac State Alumni Association solicited followers on its social media for real-life love stories – the stuff of Hallmark Channel romances and Lifetime movies with the kinds of plot twists Shonda Rhimes only dreams about. The responses they received were richer than the contents of a red velvet box of chocolates. We reached out to those who replied to that post, asking for more of the hearts, flowers, details, and even a photo or two.
Mind your Business
In the spring of 1977, a young man named Denny Brown visited the Business Office to chat with a woman he was dating at the time. However, as fate would have it, he passed the desk of another young lady, named Carla Doll (1976).
“After that, I made more frequent visits to the office and eventually my feelings changed on my dating status,” Denny said. “In early summer, I ran into Carla at the Keyser fireman’s carnival and asked for her phone number. I believe she thought that I was only joking, but I called her one evening. After that, we started dating, and things have never been the same.”
By the end of the next summer, Carla accepted a different job that removed her from the business office, but she and Denny continued to date. And Denny found himself becoming more creative in his courting endeavors.
“I often found myself raiding my mother’s refrigerator to pack a lunch and would meet Carla at the Quad,” he said. “I was a Food Management major and would invite her to taste the food our class had prepared. I must have impressed her because by autumn, we became engaged.”
The couple married on May 20, 1978.
“Six days after my graduation from PSC,” Denny said. “We both look back now, after nearly 48 years, and enjoy the memories of those days of our whirlwind romance, which all began at Potomac State College. Not bad, huh?”
Reunited and it feels so good
John and Pam Wilkinson first met at Potomac State College nearly 50 years ago. Pam was a student here from 1977 to 1979, and John attended from 1976 to 1978.
“We were great friends throughout our time at PSC and later at the main campus of WVU. After college, we went our separate ways and lost touch for nearly 30 years,” Pam said.
Then, one fateful day, Pam noticed a comment John had left on a mutual friend’s Facebook post. She reached out via Messenger to see if he was the same friend from college. He responded, and they began talking late into the evenings. Pam soon learned that John had a crush on her all through college but had been too shy to say anything at the time.
“This time, John wasn’t shy and asked me out,” Pam said. “We started reminiscing and catching up, then started dating. We’ve now been married for 15 years.”
Persistence pays off
“I met Kami Feehan in August of 2023 as we were both hired to be RA’s,” said Jaden Fultz. “The first seven times I asked her out, she said no. Finally, we became a couple in September, and now two years and some change later, we are engaged to be married in August. Today, I’m the assistant basketball coach, also working in housing, and she’s planning to move down to Keyser with me this summer after we get married. Potomac State College truly has a special place in our hearts.”
Farmers Only
For Maggie and Justin Frye, their love story is one that is outstanding in its field – quite literally.
“My husband Justin Frye and I worked and fell for each other at the Potomac State College farms,” Maggie said. “One of our bosses, the farm manager at the Malone Farm at the time, Bob Mallow, was always pushing it to happen in his strategic way. We are both thankful for our time learning production and agriculture at the PSC farms, all while learning to love each other.”
Sustainable Relationship
Erica Ferster met Sam - the man who would be her future husband - here at Potomac State when classes began in the fall of 2017. The couple bonded over their passion for wanting something more sustainable. They initially were referencing agriculture, and then the talk turned to relationships.
“We both studied Sustainable Agriculture Entrepreneurship, worked on the college farms, and were active in clubs including the NWTF and Ag Club. We met a great group of people during our college career and still keep in touch with many of them,” Erica said. “Sam was from Pennsylvania, and I was from West Virginia. We met through mutual friends, became best friends, and started dating in March 2018. He proposed in February 2021, we got married in June 2023, and we welcomed our baby girl in May 2025.”
Happy Valentine's Day Catamounts!