Xavier faculty member Mr. Nick Satterlee has been teaching about sacraments in his theology courses for years. Now, he has committed to receive the sacred bond of marriage. On November 6, 2015, Mr. Satterlee proposed to his girlfriend of five years, Katie Kasten.
Mr. Satterlee and Kasten met when they were both part of the Breitbach Program, a leadership program in which 15 Loras students can engage in service, study, and prayer together. Kasten became friends with Mr. Satterlee’s sister Ally, who introduced the now newly engaged couple.
“Her compassion for other people was something that I immediately found attractive about her,” Mr. Satterlee said of meeting Kasten. “She honestly cares about other people more than herself.”
They developed a friendship that soon blossomed into romance. The majority of the relationship, however, has been long distance. Mr. Satterlee left Illinois three years ago to begin teaching in the Theology department at Xavier. Things got even more spread out when Kasten ventured to Malaysia this past January to work as a teacher abroad through the Fullbright Scholar Program. Upon returning to the United States on November 1, Mr. Satterlee decided that the time had come to take their relationship a step further, and join with each other in the sacrament of marriage. On November 6, Mr. Satterlee took Kasten out to dinner at the Log Cabin Steakhouse in Galena, Illinois, a restaurant they ate at together in college. They walked up several flights of stairs to a point overlooking the city of Galena. The walk was long, but Mr. Satterlee was stubborn. He wanted to wait until they got to the top to propose.
“I wanted to wait until we got to the top because I wanted to have a nice scenic view, and I wanted to propose somewhere that was memorable,” Mr. Satterlee said.
It was there that Mr. Satterlee got down on one knee and asked Kasten to spend the rest of her life with him, and she graciously agreed.
“I was shocked and so excited. I could not believe I was about to enter the journey of marriage with my best friend,” Kasten said. “My favorite thing about Nick is also the thing that can cause the most tension. I would have to say it’s his stubborn disposition. If Nick believes in something, he will not let it get passed by.”
The couple has not set a wedding date, but is leaning towards a summer wedding. They plan to live in Cedar Rapids, but are open to the possibility of moving. In the future, Kasten remarked that she is looking forward to growing closer to Mr. Satterlee, having kids, and raising a family.
“Nick will be a wonderful husband and dad,” Kasten said. “I am blessed to be a part of his life.”