By Shayna Mace, Katie Vaughn and Hannah Wente | Photography By Hillary Schave
Whether it’s in music, the culinary arts or community engagement, these area couples are passionate about what they do — and are fabulous fits with one another.
A Masterfully Musical Pair
Music has always been a passion for Naha Greenholtz and Kyle Knox. It’s what brought them together — even before they became a couple.
Greenholtz, a violinist from Vancouver, and Knox, a clarinetist from New Jersey, first crossed paths in 2002 while playing in a youth orchestra in New York City. Two years later, they were both attending Juilliard, but it wasn’t until they spent six weeks touring in Italy that they connected. Afterward, Knox moved to Los Angeles and Greenholtz returned to New York.
Love at First Sip
Jessica and Erika Jones have been together for 21 years — half of Jessica’s lifetime. They met at a summer camp in 2003.
“It was love at first sight for some,” jokes Erika.
After getting to know each other throughout Jessica’s senior year of college at UW-Madison and during Erika’s tenure at AmeriCorps in the Twin Cities, the two married in 2006.
Today, they are co-owners of Giant Jones Brewery on Main Street in Madison — a dream that was 10 years in the making. Erika focuses on the business side, and Jessica focuses on brewing certified organic beer.
A Perfect Duet
Leotha Stanley first noticed his future wife at a gospel choir rehearsal, but surprisingly it wasn’t Tamera’s voice that caught his attention.
“He saw the back of my head and my hands and said, ‘I’m going to marry her,’” Tamera says. Fortunately, a gospel conference reunited their church choirs the following week, and Tamera and Leotha found themselves sharing a pew. Then Tamera’s godson dropped a pacifier.
“We both bent down to pick it up, and the rest is history,” says Leotha, a renowned pianist and composer.
A Chef’s Kiss Pairing
They say opposites attract, and Lauren Montelbano and Kyle Julius embrace their differences to support each other in local food businesses — and in life.
The duo met at Oliver’s Public House, where Montelbano was a dishwasher and training in prep and pastry, and Julius joined the staff shortly after. Nine years later, the couple has built a successful marriage and two local catering businesses.
A Community-Minded Couple
Roberta Gassman and Lester Pines have both been incredibly successful in their respective fields of politics and law over the past 50 years. But they’ve found that supporting and cheerleading each other’s efforts makes their pairing even stronger.
The duo met as undergrads at UW-Madison in 1968 while working as youth leaders at Madison’s Neighborhood House Community Center. It was this common desire to serve their community that eventually brought them together.
