Originally published February 12, 2016
By Christina Rodriguez
UTEP Communications
It was the spring of 1965 on the campus of Texas Western College, currently known as The University of Texas of El Paso. As the campus was about to be catapulted into a legendary men’s basketball season that would result in an NCAA basketball championship and change the game of college basketball forever; two young students were on the cusp of their own epic journey.
It was a crisp March night. The wind whistled and howled outside freshman Jean Netzger’s window as she was getting ready to go out for the evening with friends on campus. Jean was a quiet 18-year-old girl with dark-rimmed glasses that enveloped all the bright-eyed, innocent naivete of an unwearied soul. She was attending Texas Western College (now The University of Texas at El Paso) to earn a degree and land a job she and her family could be proud of, but that night would start her down a different path.
Jean and her friends gathered at the bowling alley and restaurant located in the basement of the University’s Student Union, known now as Union Building East. They were talking and laughing when friends introduced her to Joseph Lorio, better known as Ron. He was a tall, rugged, blue-eyed guy, two months Jean’s senior, who immediately took her breath away.
“When I first met him, I knew I was going to marry him,” Jean said with a wry smile on her face. “It was truly love at first sight.”
At the time, Ron was in a relationship with another young woman but knew there was something about Jean that he couldn’t deny.
“She was very attractive, had a great personality and laughed at all my bad jokes,” he said. “There was a very strong attraction from the second I met her; it was love at first sight.”
Shortly after their meeting, Ron called it off with his girlfriend and set his sights on pursuing Jean.
The spring semester turned to summer, then fall, and the two became inseparable. Ron’s father, who was retired from the military, was pursuing his degree at Texas Western College along with his son. Jean and Ron would take long walks on campus, have picnics in the park near Kern Place and play cards all while being chaperoned by Mr. Lorio. The three especially enjoyed attending the men’s basketball games in Memorial Gym.
“We loved going to the basketball games. We would take advantage of our free student tickets and went to every home game,” Ron said. Jean recalled how at first, she was not sure how she felt about the games she would attend with her boyfriend and his father.
“At first I was so embarrassed with Ron and his dad standing up screaming and rooting for the team,” she said. “By the end of the season, however, I was yelling and cheering louder than anyone else there. I loved it.”
As the Texas Western men’s basketball team was progressing with win after win during the season, Jean and Ron’s romance also was progressing. They were spending a lot of time together going to the drive in, spending time with friends at the popular hangout Elmer’s Family Restaurant, sitting in the car and having long talks outside Jean’s house after a date (until Jean’s mother would flash the porch light on and off, signaling her to get in the house) and even taking a Spanish class together. It seemed as if nothing could break these two apart. Then, Ron did the unthinkable.
Two weeks went by and Jean had not heard from Ron. She was bewildered as to what went wrong. She thought they had something special. After two weeks had gone by, Ron came back groveling for Jean to give him a second chance. He said he had been helping his brother work on his car and couldn’t get away, to which Jean angrily fired back, “Were your arms broken? You couldn’t pick up a phone?” By then she had already accepted a date with another boy and intended to keep it. While on the date, she realized she was in love with Ron and he was the only one for her. Ron admitted that he had to test himself and see how long he could stay away from Jean. Two weeks was his breaking point.
After their brief breakup, Ron knew it was time to pop the question.
“I wanted to make sure nobody else took her away from me,” he said. “But we both wanted to finish school first, so we made a promise we would wait for each other.” Ron went to ask Jean’s father for her hand in marriage as Jean and her mom giggled with amusement in the other room with ears pressed eagerly against the door. But because Ron had not yet given Jean a ring, their families didn’t take their engagement seriously.
Soon after, as they were sitting outside Jean’s house in the car as they often did, with Buddy Holly and the Crickets’ “Oh Boy” playing softly in the background, Ron proposed a second time, this time intending to marry her right away.
“You didn’t even get down on one knee,” Jean joked. When they stopped at a restaurant for dinner, Ron got down on one knee in the parking lot and presented Jean with a ring. The couple married in June 1966 at St. Pius Church, just a little more than a year after they met.
Ron graduated with a degree in secondary education from UTEP in 1968, while Jean continued her studies until they had their first child, Marianne, who came just 10 days after Jean finished her last final. The family moved to Colorado for Ron’s job and again to Nebraska where they had their second daughter, Michelle. Ron realized he wanted to leave his job and teach. Once again, the growing family packed up and headed back to El Paso, where Ron began working for Fabens High School, now known as Fabens Middle School.
The couple went on to have two more children, Christopher and Michael. Jean continued to pursue her degree, work and raise the four children. Marianne and Michelle both attended UTEP along with their mother. Marianne graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English and earned a master’s degree in library and information science at The University of Texas at Austin. Michelle followed in her parents’ footsteps and received her bachelor’s degree from UTEP in interdisciplinary studies on a full scholarship. Jean finally got to accomplish her lifelong dream in 1994 and completed her bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies at UTEP as well.
Both Jean and Michelle joined Ron at Fabens Middle School as teachers, where they became affectionately known by students and colleagues as “Mama Lorio,” “Papa Lorio” and “Baby Lorio.”
“Getting into education – besides getting married to Jean – was the luckiest thing that has ever happened to me,” Ron said. “I developed the ‘Cheers’ syndrome, and loved that everybody knew my name and the kids at Fabens where well-mannered and easy to work with. It was the people that kept me teaching for so long.”
When Jean started at Fabens Middle School, she was teaching an English as a Second Language class with children who had just come to the United States from Mexico.
“I loved the kids in my class; they were the most wonderful kids in the whole world,” Jean said.
Both Jean and Ron received recognition as Teacher of the Year on numerous occasions. Ron also is credited with developing a summer program where students at Fabens Middle School take tours of museums, hiking trips and other activities to make them aware of a world greater than their small community east of El Paso. Many of the children who participated in the program went on to become leaders in their chosen professions.
The couple has since retired after long and rewarding teaching careers. Michelle continues the family legacy and still teaches at Fabens Middle School, where she, too, has been named Teacher of the Year.
As a retired couple, Jean and Ron continue their tradition of attending every UTEP men’s basketball home game, like they did 50 years ago as young, love-struck teenagers.
“We inherited our season tickets from Ron’s parents when they passed away and continued going,” Jean said. “The basketball games are contagious and the people sitting around you become like a family.”
Jean and Ron continue to make history together and will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary in June, just a few months after the 50th anniversary of the 1966 Texas Western NCAA men’s basketball championship, when Coach Don Haskins started five African-American players for the first time in NCAA Championship history.
After half a century together, Jean and Ron’s love for each other and for their Miners has only gotten stronger, making the unexpected path life took that spring night in 1965 a welcomed gift.
“They say college is the road to success; I cannot imagine what life would have been like for our family if my husband and I had not attended UTEP,” Jean said. “We learned in 1966 from our team, who were also our classmates, what loyalty, tenacity, standing up for beliefs, teamwork, and honor were and are. It was an unforgettable experience for us and many, many more.”
When asked what he admires most about his wife after all these years, Ron tenderly cups his wife’s hand, turns to her and says, “Her kindness. She is the kindest person I have ever met, one of the most loving people in this world. I love the life we have shared and look forward to the time we’ve yet to share.”