“I’m so glad I married you 50 years ago,” Bill Wheeler, ’69, told Kathy Tuta, PhD’80. “Let’s do it again — right here!”
Cheers and applause filled the room as Wheeler and Tuta leaned in for a kiss in the fitness room at Camp Michigania, the Alumni Association’s family camp. The bride wore a cape of gold streamers and carried a bouquet gathered from the fields overlooking Walloon Lake. The groom, fittingly, was dressed in his maizeand- blue best.
The “wedding ceremony” was actually an impromptu celebration of the couple’s 50th wedding anniversary, planned by their 8-year-old grandson, Zephyr, with help from other campers in Camp Michigania’s children’s program for kids ages 7 to 9. For a family that has returned to Michigania for decades, it was hard to imagine a more fitting place for such a tribute.
The children spent the afternoon transforming the group fitness room into a twinkle-lit venue, complete with a paper aisle. One young artist even painted a canvas with a nod to the boathouse — jokingly designated as the site of the couple’s “honeymoon.” After the ceremony, the celebration continued with a “reception” in the dining hall upstairs.
The University of Michigan has always been at the heart of their love story. The couple first met in 1964, when Tuta’s brother lived across the hall from Wheeler in Albert Benjamin Prescott House. They began dating when Tuta came to Ann Arbor for graduate school in 1972, and married in 1976.
“We met in Ann Arbor and never left!” Wheeler said proudly.
Their U-M roots now span generations. The couple has two sons, both U-M alums, and six grandchildren — all of whom were together at Camp Michigania for the week in July. Their son Jeff Wheeler, ’06, and his wife, Jaclyn Paris, have four children: Fallyn, Silas, Arbor, and Zephyr. Their son John Wheeler, ’09, and his wife, Vasiliki Wheeler, have two children: William and Marina.
The family has been attending Camp since 1986. And while it has seen additions and upgrades over the years, Tuta said its spirit remains unchanged.
“We loved it before, but now that the grandkids are coming, it’s that much more special,” she said. “There is so much that is exactly the same, and it’s really nice to still have all the things we used to experience.”
Katie Frankhart is the marketing communications manager for the Alumni Association of the University of Michigan.
