Kelly (Copeland) '08 and Josh Merrick '07

Josh and Kelly met through mutual friends in Dillin Hall during Spring Semester 2005 when she was a freshman and he was a sophomore. Kelly instantly liked Josh, but it took him a while to figure it out. Luckily he did and they started dating the summer of 2005 after their first date to Pacific City.

They dated all through college, staying together as they each embarked on separate study abroad trips. When Josh graduated in 2007 he took a job at Linfield to stay close to Kelly until she graduated in 2008. They stayed together while living in McMinnville and in June of 2009 they got engaged after Josh proposed on the Oregon Coast.

They were married in June of 2010 in a ceremony in front of President Hellie’s house in the Oak Grove, surrounded by family and friends, many of whom also have ties to Linfield. They decided they loved Linfield so much that they chose their wedding colors to be red and purple.

After they got married, they lived in Campbell Hall, as Josh had taken a job as an area director. They lived in McMinnville before moving to NW Portland in September of 2011, where they currently live. Josh works in student services at Linfield’s Portland Campus and Kelly works in marketing for an energy efficiency consulting company.