If the Rotary Club of Hoboken never performed another good deed, it could retire knowing that in addition to serving the community, it helped two members fall in love.

Rotarians and recently engaged couple Ryan Mitchell, 34, and Laura Brayton, 33, met during a club meeting in January of 2009.

“I was involved in a business that required a lot of networking,” Mitchell said. “That's why I decided to attend a Rotary meeting."

“I was president of the club at the time,” Brayton added. “He came to the meeting... uninvited.”

Brayton introduced herself and welcomed Mitchell.

“We shook hands,” she said. “That's it, there weren't any fireworks.”

But the two got to know each other better through Rotary meetings and events. They started spending even more time as they decided in April of 2010 to train together for the New York City marathon that fall.

“We were running three or four days a week, so we were spending a lot of time together,” Brayton said.

They spent so much time that their friendship evolved into a relationship in November of 2010. That relationship was going so well that Mitchell proposed in June of 2011.

It was a spontaneous moment. Mitchell asked Brayton to marry him over drinks at Texas Arizona after they had spent a busy day in New York.

“I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. It felt right at the time, so I got down on one knee and proposed,” Mitchell said.

Brayton was in shock. “I wasn't feeling like this was the day I was going to get engaged,” she said.

But she happily said yes, and the couple have been planning their wedding since. They are looking to tie the knot in August of 2012, in Vermont, near where both happened to spend a lot of time during their childhoods.

“Those New England summers are very sentimental to both of us,” Brayton said. To make the occasion even more special, for an engagement ring Mitchell gave Brayton an heirloom that has been in his family since the 1920's.

The couple still enjoys running together, and both are still active in the Rotary. They love eating in restaurants and shopping throughout Hoboken.

Mitchell describes Brayton as “kind, compassionate, thoughtful and caring,” and “obviously beautiful.”

Brayton says Mitchell is very creative. “He thinks outside the box,” she said. Like Mitchell finds her beautiful, Brayton is also very attracted to him.

“We joke that he's my GQ model,” she said.

Are you married, engaged or have a special Hoboken-related love story? Patch would love to hear about it. Send an email to alanskontra@hotmail.com.