In the winter of 1989, the snow and pine trees of Sundance Resort set the backdrop for Doug and Judith Maughan’s second date. Doug, an MBA student at the time, had asked Judith to accompany him to a Valentine’s dinner and dance sponsored by the Marriott School. “He was handsome, smart, and probably the most polite man I had ever met,” says Judith of her date. Doug was also persistent and outdoorsy—during the summers, he caught salmon in Alaska as a commercial fisherman to help pay for school. After Doug worked his charms that evening in the mountains, dates with Judith became increasingly frequent. Sharing space in the Tanner Building, where she was also a Marriott School student, helped fuel their courtship.
“We simply enjoyed each other’s company,” Judith says. “We liked a lot of the same music and movies, and we both came from small towns. Of course, we shared the same interests in our schooling, so we could enjoy visiting about our classes and assignments. I always loved any advice or help he could offer.”
Judith and Doug were married 21 December 1989. Since a student budget left little money for elaborate dates, the newlyweds made the most of two-for-one milkshake coupons on the weekends. After graduation, the two moved to Las Vegas, where Doug worked for KPMG and Judith worked for Walmart’s management program. “It was easier for the cold-weather man to join the warm-weather woman in her climate than the reverse,” jokes Doug of their move south.
Three years later, they welcomed their first daughter and returned to Judith’s hometown—Pahrump, Nevada—where Doug was offered a job with her family’s business as an in-house controller. They live there currently and have since added another daughter and two sons to the family. In their spare time, Doug plays hockey with their oldest son, and Judith helps coach their daughter’s high school dance team and runs a photography business. Judith received her BS in marketing, retail emphasis, and Doug received a BS in accounting, a MAcc, and an MBA, all from the Marriott School in 1990.
Catch more Marriott love stories in “Joint Ventures” in the Winter 2014 issue.
