31 Years Of Consecutive Aggie Roommate Reunions

Tim Torno ’79 and his wife, Dorthy Humphrey ’80, have gathered with former roommates for a three-day weekend every summer since 1980—31 years in a row without missing a year.  Tim sent us their story:

It all started back in 1980 when we met for the first time at Dorthy’s fishing shack on  Carancahua Bay near the gulf coast town of Palacios, Texas.

It was hot and crowded. Some of us had just graduated from TAMU, gotten married to our college sweethearts and started our first “real” jobs after college. These were good times with good friends ... volleyball, fishing, horseshoes, 42 and card games until late at night. We had no idea then we would continue to meet, every year, for a long weekend somewhere for the next 30 years in a row.

Within a couple of years of the first gathering, all six former guy roommates/friends would  marry six former girl roommates/friends and scatter across Texas and the country.  These couples are Susie Partain Matthews ‘79) and Dr. Mike Matthews ‘79 (and then ‘84 for his Ph.D.), Beth Young Shurtleff ‘80 and Keith Shurtleff ‘81, Beth Cowart Roach ‘81 and Brad Roach ‘80, Lois Whitley Coffman and David Coffman ‘81, Janet Cooper Johnson ‘80 and Chris Johnson ‘83 and Dorthy Humphrey Torno ‘80 and Tim Torno ‘79. From these happy unions, a total of 15 kids and 3 grandkids (and counting) would eventually share glad and the occasional sad times with their parents during the annual getaway. Including offspring and the occasional newcomer, the group would total about 20-25 folks every year.

Our kids grew up together and treat each other like real brothers and sisters.  Five of them have now married and some have gone on to graduate from TAMU. While we aren’t nearly as active in our 50s as we used to be in our 20s, we still enjoy sharing stories, singing gospel songs, beating our kids in 42 and eating homemade ice cream (and other high calorie desserts).

In addition to rooming together at TAMU, sharing almost every evening meal together there, attending Aggie football games and teaming up on the intramural fields, we all attended worship services at Twin City Church of Christ during our time in College Station. All of us are still involved in church activities in our respective congregations now stretching from Austin to Columbia, South Carolina.

None of us were in the Corps at A&M (and some of us regretted that). Despite that, we credit the wonderful Aggie traditions,  the camaraderie of those hard-fought intramural games and our Christian fellowship as the key to the closeness we developed and maintained over the past three decades. We will foster that relationship as we continue to meet every year for the next three-plus decades.