Video by UK Public Relations and Marketing. Photos courtesy of Ree & Lou Karibo and Special Collections, University of Kentucky.
By Sarah Geegan
In 1956, Elvis Presley released "Love Me Tender," a ballad that would become a Valentine's Day classic. That same year, Lou and Ella Marie "Ree" Karibo were married. This couple who met and fell in love at the University of Kentucky have since brought to life the love song of the era: "Love me tender, love me dear; tell me you are mine. I'll be yours through all the years, till the end of time."
He was a football player and a diver; she was a cheerleader and a dancer. Both from Louisville, though they had never even heard of each other's high schools, the Karibos met at the UK Student Union Building in 1951. Lou came to UK on a football scholarship offered to him by the