18 | NOVEMBER 14 • 2024
J
N
M
ost people aren’t too
excited when they’re
selected for jury duty;
about one-third don’t even bother
showing up. But everyone should
know that serving might come with
some unlisted benefits … like the
possibility of making a friend for
life, or even finding a spouse, such
as in the case of Hanna LoPatin and
Steve Gebhardt.
In 2015, Hanna was living in Los
Angeles when she got called for
jury duty.
“It was just a civil trial, a
workman’s comp, nothing too dark,
thank God,” said Hanna now.
During voir dire, the in-person
questioning of each prospective
juror to determine if they’re right
for the trial, they were asked to
share details about themselves.
“It was great, like a dating app in
real life!” Hanna said with a laugh.
That’s how Hanna discovered one
of the guys, Steve, was also from
Michigan, which was naturally
a fun conversation starter. They
weren’t from the same area, though.
He was from Livonia, and she was
from West Bloomfield and had
attended Temple Kol Ami regularly
as she was growing up.
Doing jury duty together was
a unique way to discover each
other’s true selves. “There was
a lot of sitting around, so we
talked a lot. I remember once
I came in very tired; another
time I accidently burped. Steve
really saw it all!” Hanna said. “At
one point, I volunteered to be
presiding juror, and Steve eagerly
raised his hand and said, ‘I second
the motion!’ I saw early on that he’s
very supportive.”
The trial lasted two weeks, and
a few members of the jury panel
started having lunch together every
day.
On the second to last day of the
trial, after a quick lunch, Hanna
and Steve decided to use up their
free admission to a museum — one
of the perks they’d received for
serving. They enjoyed a quick tour
of the museum and then headed
back to the courthouse. On the
way back, Steve turned to Hanna
and asked if she’d like to get dinner
sometimes.
“I was shocked,” Hanna said. “I
didn’t see it coming!”
She later squealed excitedly to
the other female in the group, “Oh,
my God, Steve asked me on a date!”
That first date took a while to
arrange, though. They both had
busy schedules — at the time,
he worked as a chef and she was
a writer. They finally found a
mutually agreeable date for brunch:
Feb. 14.
“I wasn’t going to tell him we
accidently scheduled for Valentine’s
Day,” laughed Hanna. Talk about
pressure!
It turned out Steve remembered
on his own: He turned up with a
single red rose.
“And things kind of went from
there,” Hanna said. “Pretty soon
after that, we were seeing each
other steadily and got engaged a
year and a half after that.”
Eighteen months later, they’d
been talking about tying the
knot but the proposal was still a
surprise. At 1 a.m., Hanna went
to the bathroom and, half-asleep,
found Steve waiting for her with a
ring in the hallway.
“We had a secret for a few hours
until we could call people and tell
them the news,” Hanna said.
Since they both loved
Zingermans and since Hanna had
attended University of Michigan
(where Steve’s grandfather had
helped build the stadium), they
decided to get married in Ann
Arbor at Zingerman Cornman
Farms. All their friends from
Los Angeles flew in to help them
celebrate. They were married under
the chuppah by Rabbi Benji Bar-
Lev of Columbus. At that time,
Hanna became stepmom to Steve’s
cat, Stitch.
In 2020, their son Freddie, now
4, was born. In 2021, they decided
to relocate back to Michigan to live
closer to family and now live in
Troy and attend Temple Israel on
High Holidays.
Needless to say, the couple is very
patriotic and is always happy to do
their bit in civil service!
This column will appear biweekly. If you’d
like to share your ‘meet-cute’ story, email
burstynwithjoy@hotmail.com.
Love Sparked
at Jury Duty!
ROCHEL BURSTYN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
OUR COMMUNITY
HOW WE MET
Steve and
Hanna with
their son
Freddie
Hanna and Steve on
their wedding day