BETTER TOGETHER
DUTY CALLS Two first responders begin married life together after meeting through work By Lisa Arnett
E
Theis family. They married in a traditional ceremony at Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church in Aurora, which the bride attended growing up. Because the church doesn’t have a foyer, Theis and her father waited outside for their cue to go down the aisle. With the front doors flung open, a breeze blew in and caused some minor mayhem. “I had said to my dad, ‘What is taking them so long?’ and he was chuckling. He said, ‘There’s one, two, three, four guys, your sister, and Father Patrick trying to get your aisle runner untangled,’” Theis says. Reece was relieved moments later when they finally made their entrance.
PHOTOS BY LILLY PHOTOGRAPHY
mily Theis, 30, and Jim Reece, 32, have their jobs to thank for their first meeting. Batavia native Theis works as a 911 dispatcher, while Jim Reece, who grew up in Bloomingdale, is a police officer. They met on a messaging system that dispatchers use to communicate with police. “We both happened to be working outside of our normal shifts … and we were both trying to stay awake in the early morning hours,” Reece says. “We exchanged phone numbers and continued talking throughout the day and pretty much every day after that.” Reece later proposed on a snowmobiling trip in northern Michigan with the
18 JUNE/JULY 2020 / NAPERVILLEMAGAZINE.COM
