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

