The Free Press proudly presents its annual Valentine’s Day feature. It shares the Love Stories of five Richmond-area couples.

Photos by Regina H. Boone

Marc and Renee Jolley

We first met officially on a trip to Massachusetts with our music fraternity and sorority at what was then Virginia State College. I couldn’t get the time of day from Renee on that trip.

That changed in 1977 when we were in Virginia State’s music building, and she saw me in a dark blue suit. That was the beginning of our future together.

Our first official date was in Hampton to see Heatwave, Rufus and Chaka Kahn, and The Emotions. Heatwave’s “Always and Forever” was one of our wedding songs in 1980.

But let me back up and share the old-school method of asking her father for Renee’s hand in marriage during Christmas 1979. I was sweating bullets until he finished asking questions and then said “Yes.” We were married on her birthday Aug. 9, the hottest Saturday ever in Warsaw, Va.

We’ve been through a lot in our almost 43 years of marriage. However, when you have a strong loving partner, no road is too tough when you are with the one you love and trust in the Lord.

In 1982, our only child was born, Crystal Yvette, which brought a new meaning of joy to both of us. Now that Crystal is grown and gone, we are officially senior citizens with a new flair for life and we are enjoying each other more and more each day.

Our mutual love for sports and music was a big key for our marriage, especially since we never liked the same teams. Our love for each other is greater than whose team won. My Raiders and Renee’s Commanders don’t see a lot of wins anyway (LOL). A sign of a successful marriage is finding someone at such a young age with whom you know you want to grow old.

Renee Jolley is a senior executive assistant. Marc Jolley is a retired operations superintendent in Richmond.

Steve and Brittaney DeRaffele

It’s about 10 years ago and Tarrant’s Cafe in Downtown was bustling on any given night. The bar manager and kitchen manager were making plans for a drink together after work.

That’s pretty much where this love story started.

I was bartending and working all the intense restaurant hours and quickly got to know and fall for the new guy who was running the kitchen. We started our journey and shared love of the restaurant industry with nightly hangs at a handful of our favorite watering holes around the city, usually with a group of friends (turned industry family) from Tarrant’s.

Not too far into our early days of dating we both knew, without a doubt, it was a forever thing. He continued to work his way through the restaurant world and passionately encouraged me to take the leap and go full time as a jeweler. We joked about how we should go about getting engaged (with him wondering) “How do I buy a ring for a jeweler!?”

We eventually settled on a special ring from another small jeweler and Steve quietly proposed in our first apartment together on a rainy evening in March with a bottle of wine. All was right in our world in that two-bedroom on Grace Street with our dog Coconut and before we knew it we were excitedly planning a May wedding for the following year.

Fast forward to 2023 and he’s opened his dream restaurant, I’m making engagement rings for other people’s love stories and we’re still tag-teaming our way through life. We talk so often about how lucky we are that the stars aligned in 2012 when we both took a leap (both moving to Richmond, in the same weekend, unknowingly!), took the jobs at Tarrant’s and the rest is history!

Brittanny DeRaffele is owner of SUN & SELENE, a jewelry and accessory brand in Scott’s Addition. Steve DeRaffele owns Pinky’s, a restaurant in Scott’s Addition.

Richard A. Waller Jr. and Jean F. J. Waller

We are happily starting our 64th year together.

It all started with a chance encounter. I first saw her at a bus stop on Idlewood Avenue. I was catching a bus to Maggie L Walker High School where I was a senior. And she was catching the bus to Smith-Madden Business College.

Jean already had graduated from Brawley High School in Scotland Neck, N.C., and had come to Richmond to stay with a sister while she improved her office skills. They lived a block away from my home on Rosewood Avenue.

For me, there was an instant attraction and I became fascinated with her. I constantly went to the same bus stop hoping to see her again. It didn’t happen too often. She was on a different schedule. And I worked after school at the family jewelry store my grandfather, Marcellus C. Waller, started in 1900.

When prom time rolled around, her school was out, and she already had left for home. I managed to get her address and started writing her. I still remember the address, P.O. Box 246, Scotland Neck, N.C.

I even went to see her down in North Carolina. I rode the bus. Her daddy made sure I didn’t stay overnight. I caught the bus back the same night.

Somehow it worked. We began seeing each other after she came back to complete her second year of studies at Smith-Madden.

The result: We married Dec. 26, 1959, with the now late Dr. Gordon B. Hancock officiating at Moore Street Missionary Baptist Church.

We went to Washington, D.C., for our honeymoon. We only had one day. We both had to be back for work on Monday.

Says Mrs. Waller: “He promised we would have an extended honeymoon one day. I’m still waiting.”

The Wallers have two sons, both of whom are now the fourth generation of the family to operate Waller & Co. Jewelers. Mr. Waller took charge around 1968 and bought the company’s current location, 19 E. Broad St. where the store has been since 1980. Mr. Waller, who celebrated his 85th birthday last month, retired two years ago. Mrs. Waller, who will celebrate her 84th birthday this month, is a former school secretary, who retired much earlier. Both remain active at Moore Street Missionary Baptist in Carver, where he serves as a deacon.

Matthew Cole and Charlie Dupree

We met because of horses.

It was July 4, 1996, in Richmond. What is now the Richmond Raceway was once the Virginia State Fairgrounds with several horse barns and a covered arena. Before heading to graduate school at Virginia Theological Seminary, Charlie worked on a horse farm in North Carolina. I was a professional horse trainer with a farm in Charlottesville. We were competing at the same horse show!

We had always noticed each other from afar, but one night, a mutual friend introduced us. Something felt so familiar and comfortable about being together — enough so, that we started seeing each other on a regular basis. It wasn’t your typical courtship. There were three years of seminary for Charlie while I was still training horses. Both of us lived in Virginia, but two hours apart.

After graduation and ordination, Charlie’s first job in the Episcopal Church meant five years of keeping our relationship under wraps. In the late 1990s and the church in most areas was not yet willing to embrace openly gay clergy. Charlie and I couldn’t be “together.”

Next came five years that were spent serving a church in upstate New York. Our community in Woodstock was the first congregation to welcome us as a couple. From there, we transitioned to Bloomington, Ind. During that time, gay marriage was legalized in New York. So, in the fall of 2011, we were married on a mountainside in Woodstock encircled by 12 of our closest friends.

Full circle. We now live in the city where we met. Our journeys have taken us to and through many places, but we always end up standing side by side.

Richmond, you were the place where our relationship began almost 27 years ago. Thank you for supporting us — and those like us — today.

Matthew Cole is a Realtor with One South Realty Group, and enjoys working with first-time home buyers and sellers. Charlie Dupree serves as rector of historic St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Downtown Richmond.

Larry Willis and Dr. Cassandra Willis

“Dr. LarryCassandra Willis”

Our love story started with a friend setting us up. We had not crossed paths before, even though we had mutual friends. Both of us were on the other side of breakups that had us wondering how did we end up there! We went on a few dates but stayed friends for a while before it turned into anything romantic, although both of us kept our eyes on one another.

He says he knew I was different when he saw me teach; I said he was different when he sat down to balance his checkbook.

The thing is, we almost did not even date seriously! Larry was moving way too slow, so I thought he was not interested. And then when we finally started dating, I thought we were serious and he kept introducing me as a friend, but I told him I had enough friends. I did not know until years later, he already knew I was the one, but wanted to move slower this time around and enjoy the courtship.

A lot of people say compromise and friendship are the core of their relationship, but for us, it is and has always been laughter. Even in the midst of disagreements, our crisis pregnancy, and the lowest points in our journey, we have always found time to laugh together as a couple and as a family. He still can make me giggle like he did 18 years ago when we married. What laughter has done for us is add a bit of joy in the most challenging times.

I remember even when I was in graduate school, he kept saying “Dr. LarryCassandra Willis is almost finished.”

He still introduces us like that and has asked that our names be printed like that! Our memories of tough times are not associated with hurt, they are associated with laughter.

We are blessed that we are so different in personality but so strong together. Our deep appreciation of each other’s uniqueness makes us work, and we focus on what works for Team Willis and not everyone else. We also look forward to seeing each other every single day and finding that thing that still makes us both giggle.

Dr. Cassandra Willis is a principal with Henrico County Public Schools. Larry Willis is an IT manager with Henrico County Public Schools.