A Villanova Love Story

Ask Bob Schaumann to name the best thing that Villanova gave him, and he will tell you: Diane Bensing Schaumann, his wife of nearly 51 years. Bob spied Diane on their first day of college during their freshman orientation, seated in the football stadium. Then and there, he knew that she was “the one.” After that, he would spot her on campus throughout their freshman year, but did not actually make a move to meet her until that following summer. Bob was the incoming news director for the college radio station and happened to be on campus in July while Diane was taking summer classes. There, in what was the Middle Lounge of Dougherty Hall, he saw Diane talking with a mutual friend, and he went over and introduced himself. He walked Diane to her biology lab, called her the next day, and asked if she would join him on a double date with a friend. Diane surprised him with a “yes,” and Bob then had to scramble to actually arrange the double date. After that, they were together throughout college.

Diane and Bob grew up in Havertown, Pennsylvania, a mile apart, but they never crossed paths until arriving at Villanova. Both come from Catholic families that supported higher education. Bob’s father, Charles Schaumann, was a 1942 graduate of the College, so Villanova was a natural choice for him. Diane’s uncle, Thomas Golden, graduated from Villanova in 1943. Bob, interested in business, enrolled in what was then the College of Commerce & Finance (the current VSB). Diane chose Villanova because she was impressed with its Augustinian values and wanted to earn a college degree while training to become a nurse. Both were “day hops,” living at home and commuting to campus. The atmosphere on campus in the fall of 1964 was very different from now. Back then, not all colleges admitted women, and Villanova did not become fully co-educational until the semester after they graduated.

Bob, a midshipman in the Villanova NROTC program, graduated in 1968 during the Vietnam conflict and immediately entered the U.S. Navy as a commissioned officer. Diane graduated the same year and began her career in nursing in the Abington area. When Bob was separated from active duty service, he moved into civilian life, but he continued to serve in the Naval Reserves for eleven more years. Diane and Bob were married at St. Thomas of Villanova on December 27, 1969. The church is especially important to Diane because two pivotal events in her life occurred there—their wedding and her nursing pinning ceremony. To this day, whenever they visit the campus, they make it a point to visit the chapel to reflect on their lives and memories.

For many years while he was growing up, Bob and his family had vacationed each year in New Hampshire. In 1972, he and Diane made the bold move to leave the Philadelphia area and follow a dream that Bob had of moving on a permanent basis to New Hampshire. Diane, who admits that she loves a challenge, was willing to try something different. Although she acknowledges that the winters can be “tough,” she, too, grew to love New Hampshire. They each found work and settled in to grow their family in New England. The Schaumann’s’ have two daughters, Kerri Haseman and Bethany Schaumann, as well as two grandchildren. As they were raising their girls, they both also pursued demanding careers—Bob as a Sales Training Group Manager at a Fortune 50 high tech company; Diane, in nursing– and both still found time to acquire MBA degrees. Life came with ups and downs, but laughter, which Diane calls “a wonderful potion,” pulled them through rough times.

Through the years, Villanova has been a constant in Bob’s and Diane’s lives. They maintain connections with one of Diane’s classmates, Marguerite Schlag, Associate Dean of Graduate Programs at the Fitzpatrick College of Nursing. Don Casey, a classmate of Bob’s, is also part of their shared Villanova history and served as the “best man” at their wedding. Bob fondly remembers marketing professor Bill O’Neill as “one of the best teachers ever.”

The Schaumann’s’ have also come to see how their thinking has been influenced by their time at Villanova, through relationships with priests, faculty, and friends. Diane and Bob say that if alumni reflect on their experiences at the University and on the preparation that they received for their professions that they will realize how sturdy a foundation Villanova gave to them. Bob believes the Augustinian values that infused his experience at Villanova have made him who he is today.

Diane, too, is proud of being a Villanovan. For this reason, she and Bob decided to include Villanova in their estate, with a generous gift through a revocable trust. She likes to think that anyone reading their story will reflect on their own history and choose to support the University. They both hold that when people are in their 30s and 40s, they don’t really think about their legacy; that comes with time, when they also start to realize what has most impacted their lives. If Villanova has strongly impacted your life, as it has Diane’s and Bob’s, please consider making Villanova a part of your legacy. To explore making a gift to Villanova as part of your estate, please contact Tim McKinley at 215-240-0812 or timothy.mckinley@villanova.edu.