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Jim Reppe and Marilyn (Formella) Reppe '76

Where and how did you meet while students at UW-Eau Claire? My wife, Marilyn, and I met in the fall of 1973, our third year into school, at the large apartment house located on the corner of Grand Avenue and West Third Avenue. Some called it the "Crow’s Nest,” as the Crow family owned it. It is listed as a National Registry home. It was a large three-story house which housed eight male students on the first floor and approximately nine female students on the other two. Marilyn and I talked on occasion when we would meet while walking to and from campus; but we were just casual acquaintances at the time. Of my seven other roommates, she was most comfortable talking to me. This often resulted in her showing up at my door when she needed “a man” to fix her stereo, kill a bat, put the chain back on her bicycle or search through her apartment looking for a nonexistent burglar (that is another story, though). My roommates and I had an occasional party, and Marilyn would sometimes watch my dog, Rigby, during those often loud and crowded gatherings. She had another boyfriend at the time, and so I kept my distance. At the end of the school year, spring of 1974, we went our own ways without as much as a “See ya later.”

Marilyn Formella and Jim Reppe on Hudson Street in Eau Claire in 1975.

Destiny was at work, though, behind the scenes. Marilyn had left school, unbeknownst to me, and moved to Chicago to be closer to her boyfriend. That lasted about a month or so, and she made the decision that it was time to move on and she came back to Eau Claire in January of 1975, determined that she would have nothing to do with men for a loooong time. That first night back, she and her girlfriends reunited and headed down to the Stable on Water Street to catch up on old times. I happened to be there with my buddies when I noticed her off in the distance. I remember specifically the following thought process going through my head: “Boy, does that look like Marilyn, but it can’t be, as I heard she had moved to Chicago and was probably married by now.” But there was such a close resemblance that I figured she must have had a sister who looked just like her, maybe even a twin. I approached her with my opening line prepared: “Are you Marilyn’s sister?”  “No, I’m Marilyn,” she replied laughingly. She went on to explain where she had been for the past year, and we then talked for hours. We have been together pretty much ever since, except for the traditional story line in every love movie: We went our own ways for several months but then came rushing back to each other.   Her “nothing to do with men” vow lasted less than one day. When I walked back to my apartment that night, I was singing "Don’t Let Me Down" by the Beatles; and she has not done so in 32 years of marriage.

Was it a “love connection” from the start? There was always an attraction, but as I mentioned earlier, I kept my distance at first as she had a boyfriend. Once that obstacle was out of the way, it was just 21 months before we were married.

What is your fondest memory as a couple that connects you to UW-Eau Claire? There is not one specific memory that connects us to UW-Eau Claire, but rather the fact that a young woman from Rhinelander, Wisconsin (Marilyn,) and a young man from New Richmond, Wisconsin (me), would both choose UW-Eau Claire for a college and would eventually meet and fall in love. The bond is that we both experienced our college years, those carefree years, at the same school and were both present at many of the same happenings even though we were not yet together. Familiar places like Davies, the lounge area outside of the bookstore where watching soaps was the way to pass time between classes, the original McIntyre Library, dorm life in Towers, eating in the Hilltop cafeteria, walking up “the hill,” Water Street, the bus to the London Square Mall, the footbridge on a frigid windy morning, the London Inn, the Barr, Water Street, Tornado Watch, movies in the basement of Towers, the Spectator, the trail in Putnam Park, comprehensive finals, off-campus parties, streakers, Blugold basketball games, and shopping on Barstow. Early concert events were Shawn Phillips, Fleetwood Mac, Crow and Reo Speedwagon at the Barr back when they were a fledgling band from Madison on the Wisconsin bar tour circuit. We recall these memories on occasion even though we were not by each other’s side at the time.

Is there a place on campus that is special for the two of you? We both have many memories of campus, as we shared the same interests and frequented the same places, but not really with each other. We did not really have much campus time together, as it was at the tail-end of my schooling. We now look back and wonder if perhaps we were within speaking distance on occasion in the early years of school when we did not know each other.

If you are married, when did you tie the knot? Marilyn graduated in the spring of 1976 and in June was offered a job working for the university. A week into the job she was informed that she was not eligible for the job as it was a work-study position for students. I had left school after three years of study to move back to my hometown to work for a year as I was flat broke. She called me the day she lost her job and was seeking advice as to what to do. I knew in my heart that if I suggested to her to move to New Richmond, she would be there in a heartbeat and that we would most likely be married shortly thereafter. I said it: “Why don’t you come to New Richmond to look for work?”  We married in September 1976 and spent our honeymoon in Eau Claire staying in the Hilton down on Barstow for $35 a night. We now have three adult sons, one of whom (Ernie) is a graduate of UW-Eau Claire and now lives in Eau Claire with his wife, Crick. Although we have lived in New Richmond most of our married life, we view Eau Claire as our second home and the first place we would choose to move if we had to move for whatever reason. It is a city that offers everything we need but still retains its small town appeal.