As this is the month of February, this edition of the Alumni Corner will feature an alumni couple who met at Central Catholic.
Meet Timothy & Jan (Schmidt) Metzinger! Jan graduated from Central Catholic in 1981 and Tim in 1982. They met during the spring of 1980. Tim was a sophomore and Jan was a junior. Jan played tennis and Tim would come to watch his girlfriend play. Tim would talk to Jan as she took stats for his girlfriend. They never dated in high school but became friends, and they began dating in college. “We broke up for three years and met again at a CC wedding of Kathy (Dyer) Landis on Valentine’s Day. Jan was in the wedding, and Tim crashed the wedding. We began dating again for 2+ years and got married.” Tim and Jan were married on December 23, 1989, at St. Thomas Aquinas and it was a record-setting -20 degrees outside. The couple has been married for 33 years.
After high school, Jan attended Purdue University and graduated with a degree in finance. She worked for eight years in Human Resources for Indiana Gas in Indianapolis and one year at TRW in Human Resources in Lafayette. From there, Jan moved to Central Human Resources for Purdue and then to Purdue Athletics. She is currently the Associate Athletics Director – Human Resources for Purdue Athletics.
Meanwhile, Tim went to Wabash College and played football for four years. He graduated with a degree in Economics and worked for three years in agriculture and three years as a buyer for Big R stores. In 1993, Tim bought into his father’s grain business, Stockland Grain Company, in Illinois, and he is currently the Vice President of the company and manages two of the four facilities.
Tim and Jan have three children and one grandchild: Mary (Metzinger) Rominger (Purdue Graduate), Husband Adam, Son Rory; Pete (CC ‘14 and Purdue Graduate), Wife Emily; and Ben (CC ‘17 and Purdue Graduate).
How did your education at LCSS prepare you for college and your career?
The academics and religious values we experienced/obtained throughout our high school years provided a strong foundation for us to be successful in college and our business careers.
How did LCSS help to shape your faith?
The education we received at CC helped us in many ways to embrace our faith and continue to learn more about our faith. Creating a strong Catholic faith foundation for our family was very important to us and we were able to continue that by sending our kids to Catholic schools. They all went through Sacred Heart Catholic Grade School in Fowler and when we moved to Lafayette the boys went to CC.
Describe one of your favorite memories of LCSS:
Also, being on the Lance staff and being the editor my senior year created so many great memories and strong friendships. Coming up with a creative “Lance Staff” photo was always the highlight.
Also, one of my favorite teachers was Mrs. Hernandez who taught Spanish. How could anyone forget the trays of headphones that were hung from the ceiling and would lower for us to use to practice speaking Spanish?
