By Libby Riddle, UM News Service
MISSOULA – Kelsey Miller and Luke Rymniak met between the stacks of the Mansfield Library at the ÁÔÆæÖØ¿Ú. They were part of a small crew of students who agreed to work the 6 p.m. to midnight shift in the fall of 2020.
“One night, I was helping Kelsey shelve books,” Rymniak said. “And I remember thinking, ‘This is one of the most entertaining people I have ever met.’”
Miller, for her part, remembers Rymniak asking her where to shelve a book and telling him that she didn’t know because it wasn’t her job (even though it definitely was).
What began as a student job shelving books and staffing the circulation desk grew into a close friendship, then a relationship, shaped by an affection for the Missoula community that surrounds the UM campus.
And the UM Foresters’ Ball has become an important tradition for the couple. It’s the place where they get “married” … again and again. They just did it again this past weekend.
Rymniak came to UM in 2015 after four years of serving in the Marine Corps. Originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he enlisted right out of high school, and by the time his service was up, he had no idea what he wanted to do. Inspired by a story he heard about wildland firefighters, he looked up the best forestry schools in the country. Three weeks later, he packed up his 2006 Ford Crown Victoria and drove across the country to attend UM.
Miller grew up in Appalachian Georgia, where she cultivated a deep love for wildlife. She spent her days in the woods behind her family’s house catching snakes and salamanders. She took a few gap years to decide what she wanted to study, but fell back on her love for nature. In a similar strategy to Rymniak, she searched for universities with the best wildlife biology programs. She applied to several, but a scholarship offer from UM sealed the deal.
By the time they met at the library, Rymniak was working on his master’s degree in forestry – having completed his B.S. in forestry in 2019 – while Miller toiled through the prerequisites for a bachelor’s in wildlife biology. Eventually, Rymniak gathered up the courage to ask her to hang out outside the stacks.
“He asked me to go hiking,” Miller said.
“And she said no,” Rymniak added. “But a couple weeks later, she asked if I wanted to go rock climbing at the campus gym, so of course I said yes.”
Their relationship is founded on a shared love for life in Missoula. They have fond memories together walking along the Clark Fork River and stopping by happy hour at Bridge Pizza before catching a movie at the Roxy Theater. One of their first official dates was hiking to Baker Lake in the Bitterroot Valley. They go back every year to celebrate their anniversary.
But their most important campus tradition is UM’s Foresters’ Ball. During his time as an undergraduate, Rymniak joined the Forestry Club and got involved with constructing the 1890s-era logging town inside the Schreiber Gym that hosts the Foresters’ Ball each year. When the Ball returned in 2023 after a break during the pandemic, Rymniak couldn’t wait to share this UM tradition with Miller.
Their favorite part of the Foresters’ Ball is the chapel, where attendees can pay one dollar to have a member of the Forestry Club marry them under the watchful eyes of Bertha the moose, the mascot of the W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation. Every year, Rymniak and Miller join hands at the wooden altar where they exchange plastic rings and a kiss.
“I was devastated to learn that, according to the marriage certificate they give you, the marriages are annulled at midnight!” Rymniak said. “So we just have to get remarried every year.”
“I’ve still got last year’s ring!” Miller said, pointing to a gold band on her left hand.
Though they’ve both graduated – Rymniak in 2021 with a master’s degree in forestry and Miller in 2024 with a B.S. in wildlife biology – they’ve made a home together in Missoula. Rymniak worked as a forester for the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service, and now works for the National Wild Turkey Federation. Meanwhile, Miller has worked as a field technician for UM’s Bird Ecology Lab and as an environmental educator for local organizations like Missoula Outdoor Learning Adventures. She’s also kept up her volunteer work with UM’s Philip L. Wright Zoological Museum, where she articulates animal skeletons for display in museums around the state.
“Specimens I’ve worked on are on display at the ÁÔÆæÖØ¿Ú Natural History Center, in the UM Health Sciences Building and at the Fish, Wildlife and Park Museum in Helena,” Miller said. “And our home, of course.”
“They make the place look so much better,” Rymniak added.
Miller and Rymniak’s post-grad careers reflect the passions that first brought them to UM. What began as a student job at the Mansfield Library has grown into a shared life rooted in the community they love almost as much as each other.
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Contact: Dave Kuntz, UM Director of Strategic Communications, 406-243-5659, dave.kuntz@umontana.edu; Libby Riddle, science communications coordinator, W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation, elizabeth.riddle@umontana.edu.