LISA SCHWATKA AND KYRLE PREIS III
After his first marriage broke up, Kyrle Preis III made his daughter, Ashley, the priority in his life.
Kyrle, a paramedic at the Baltimore County Fire Department's Fullerton station, shares custody of his daughter with his former wife. When they divorced, Kyrle was determined to spend as much time with Ashley as possible.
And so on his days off, Kyrle took Ashley -- then a toddler -- along while he ran errands. If he wanted to work out, he popped his daughter into the child's seat on the back of his mountain bike or carted her off to his gym. Kyrle became adept at putting Ashley's hair up in "piggy tails" and in drying little-girl tears.
And when he began dating again, Kyrle was cautious with his heart and even more so with his daughter's. He knew, he says now, that whoever came into his life would have to have her own strong and positive relationship with Ashley.
It was a chance meeting with an old friend after a 3:30 a.m. fire call in August 1996 that led Kyrle to call Lisa Schwatka.
The fellow firefighter, Walt Brewer, knew that Kyrle and Lisa had met in 1991. She was working as a hygienist then for Kyrle's family dentist and had assisted when Kyrle had a root canal.
"Call her," Walt urged, giving Kyrle Lisa's phone number.
"Walt has always been like a big brother to me, watching out for me and hoping I'd find someone to treat me right," Lisa explains.
Lisa had just started nursing school at Union Memorial Hospital. And Kyrle had Ashley to tend to, so their relationship progressed slowly. They talked on the phone often, but dates were infrequent, arranged around their busy schedules. And Kyrle waited several months to introduce Lisa to Ashley.
Ashley immediately christened Lisa, "Lisy," and the two became fast friends.
As Kyrle and Lisa continued to date, going out by themselves and with Ashley, they realized they were falling in love.
As their love grew, however, Kyrle and Lisa rarely talked of marriage. In fact, smart aleck that he is, Kyrle often teasingly held up as his role models movie stars like Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, who have maintained a long-term relationship without a marital bond.
When he decided to propose to Lisa on Valentine's Day 1998, Kyrle first sought Ashley's blessing. After she gave it, Kyrle shared his secret with Lisa's parents, Suzanne and William "Herdie" Schwatka III of Towson, and his own parents, Kyrle and Dolly Preis Jr. of Kingsville.
