Meet Hofstra's Best Couple Contest Winner

Ron DeMartino '61 & Marianne Krueger DeMartino '64

As part of Hofstra’s 75th anniversary celebration, the University launched a
“Best Couple” contest for alumni, encouraging sweethearts who met as
students to share their love stories. The winner was decided via an online
poll, and more than 4,000 votes were recorded. The winning couple,
Ron DeMartino ’61 and Marianne Krueger DeMartino ’64, met when Ron was a senior majoring in business administration, and Marianne was a freshman majoring in elementary education. “I saw my future wife in the cafeteria. She was pledging AOB sorority,” Ron wrote in his contest entry. “I was immediately struck by her good looks, but decided not to approach her as she was carrying a brick, which at the time was an AOB pledge requirement. Not knowing her personality, I did not want to risk getting literally struck by the brick.

“Several weeks later, armed with information about her that a UGA pledge
obtained for me, we met at an AOB/UGA party. She was impressed that
I knew so much about her — I did not tell her how I obtained the information. As it turned out, her personality was great and there was little risk of being clobbered by the brick. That was May 5, 1961, and exactly two years later we
were married.”

Marianne left Hofstra prior to graduating to join Ron in Amarillo, Texas, where he was a lieutenant in the Air Force. In 1965 they settled in Connecticut. Ron went on to earn an M.B.A. and worked for many years as a financial executive at United Technologies Corporation.

Marianne said, “Once all of our three sons were in school, I entered Southern Connecticut State University to complete my undergraduate degree. Much to my surprise, all the credits I had earned at Hofstra, some 20 years prior, were accepted by SCSU. After graduation, I taught special education and went on to earn a master’s degree in that field.”

The DeMartinos, who now have one grandchild, have lived in their Guilford, CT, home for almost 40 years. They are both retired and active volunteers for such organizations as Meals on Wheels, the American Legion, the Guilford Garden Club and Guilford Youth Mentoring.

When notified that they won Hofstra’s Best Couple contest, they were very much taken by surprise. Marianne said, “We were convinced that the younger couples with their Facebook friends would be shoo-ins, and were, therefore, amazed to hear that we had won. Credit for our win goes to the loyal members of AOB alumnae and our family and friends.”

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