Mackenzie Leigh Jacks and William Lawrence Frantz could not help but notice each other every time they crossed paths in the shared parking lot that stood between their Detroit apartment buildings in September 2014.
“I kept telling my roommate about this guy with a beard who was super hot,” said Ms. Jacks, 30, a physician assistant at Park Medical Centers in Detroit. “I needed to find a way to talk to him.”
Mr. Frantz, who is also 30 and works as a product line supervisor with the Ford Motor Company in Detroit, was feeling much the same.
“I kept seeing this beautiful woman when I would come home from work,” he said. “One day I got a really good look at her as she was helping an elderly woman out of her car, whom I later found out was her grandmother, and I thought, ‘Wow, that’s someone I would like to know. How can I approach her?’ ”
They were eventually brought together by someone they both had noticed: a thrill-seeker who was spotted climbing a radio tower adjacent to their buildings. When the sounds of police sirens and fire trucks began filling the air, Ms. Jacks looked out of a window in her apartment to survey the commotion, and saw neighbors gathering at the scene, including Mr. Frantz, who was just returning from work.
“I knew this was going to be my best chance to meet him,” Ms. Jacks said. “I was wearing sweatpants, but I put on nicer clothes and makeup and ran down there and walked over to him and said, ‘What’s going on here?’ ”
They began talking about the climber as he continued to scale the tower, and by the time he was arrested they had made plans to continue their conversation at a nearby coffee shop a few days later.
“She was tall with dark hair and dark eyes,” Mr. Frantz said. “Definitely my type.”
When the day arrived, Ms. Jacks entered the coffee shop at 4 p.m., and Mr. Frantz raised her eyebrows when he told her the date would be over in three hours, as several of his friends were arriving at the same coffee shop to celebrate a birthday.
“I began thinking “What’s going on here,?” Ms. Jacks said.
Mr. Frantz said he was merely employing a bit of premeditated strategy.
“I was just giving myself an out in case things didn’t work out between us,” he said.
By 7 p.m., when his friends began rolling in, Mr. Frantz’s strategy had changed. He and Ms. Jacks had transitioned from coffee to beer, and he was in no rush to part company with her.
“She wasn’t just gorgeous, she was so smart and funny,” he said. “It’s very rare for anyone to have their friends along for a first date, but that’s what happened to me, and my friends were so impressed with her, their feedback was immediate and very positive, and one of them later said to me, ‘Dude, you gotta stay with this girl.’ ”
■ The couple were married Feb. 22 in the chapel at the Masonic Temple in Detroit. Pastor David Geroux, a minister affiliated with Rose Ministries, performed the ceremony.
■ Ms. Jacks graduated from the University of Michigan, and received a master of science degree in physician assistant studies from the University of Detroit Mercy. She is the daughter of Judith A. Jack-Phillips and Joseph J. Jacks, both of Brighton, Mich. The bride’s father retired as a metallurgist from Stork Climax Research Services in Wixom, Mich. Her mother is a remodel coordinator in Cleveland with the Kroger Company, the grocery chain.
■ Mr. Frantz graduated from Michigan Technological University and received an M.B.A. from Wayne State University. He is a son of Ann M. Frantz of Grand Rapids, Mich., and the late Charles R. Frantz. The groom’s mother is a broker with Five Star Real Estate in Grand Rapids. His father retired as a business professional in the water treatment and chemical management industries in Grand Rapids.
