Boxer Love Story: Joe Dolezal, '79, O.D. '81 and Patricia (Blickenstaff) Dolezal, PT '82

Joe Dolezal transferred to Pacific in August 1976 from the University of Nebraska in order to finish his biology degree and then get into optometry school.

Joe decided to live on campus his first year in Oregon in order to meet students.

His second day on campus, there was a new student orientation gathering in the University Center. The students were split up into groups of around seven or eight students and were told to tell something about themselves through drawings or phrases. Joe told about being a Cornhusker from the flatlands and remembered being quite taken by a young, blonde freshman from Corvallis who had been transplanted from northern California.

She wore denim overalls, long braids and was interested in politics and vegetarianism.

“I decided that night that she was the one girl for me and after 34 years of marriage, Patty Blickenstaff, PT ’82, still is."

The couple got married in 1980.

This time at Clark and McCormick Halls along with the tiny yellow house they rented next to the aquatic center on 23rd Avenue provided them with many fond memories. They currently live in Centralia, Wash., but both consider Pacific as being responsible for their start in the Pacific Northwest.

Read more Boxer love stories at pacificu.edu/lovestory