In the fall of 1986, Kelly and Eric first met through Kelly's brother, Derek. Eric and Derek were starting 10th grade together at a new school and Kelly was starting her freshman year at Ohio University. Eric would vacation with the Buck family and remain close to the family long after high school and college. Eric enjoyed not only Derek's friendship but also discussing business and politics with Kelly's father Lloyd. Throughout this time, Eric would visit Kelly and her family. Eric and Kelly's relationship blossomed during Covid when Eric would visit Kelly regularly. After dating for a couple of years, they got engaged during a trip to Aruba. After 51 years of bachelorhood and living and traveling around the world, Eric proposed to Kelly during dinner on the beach in the middle of their trip. After dinner, Eric slipped a proposal card into the dessert menu and asked Kelly to choose a dessert. Kelly's first words will not be repeated when she opened the menu, but suffice to say that she was surprised! After getting on one knee and offering a ring, Kelly said "Yes"! This love story will begin a new chapter with our wedding on June 10th which we are so looking forward to sharing with you.
Our wedding party consists of two of the most important people in the world...Nate and Katherine. Nate is Kelly's son and is serving as Eric's best man. Nate graduated from Ohio University and just completed his second year at Capital University Law School. Katherine is Kelly's daughter and is serving as Kelly's maid of honor. Katherine graduated from Cleveland State University and will be continuing her studies at Cleveland State in the occupational therapy doctoral program.