6 minute read
The Speer Family: Lovers of the Outdoors and All Things Sports
Resident Feature by Liz Burnett
Photos by Sierra Clark Photography www.SierraClarkPhoto.com
Ed and Emily Speer have had a LOT in common since they were kids. They both grew up in West Chester and attended West Chester East High School. Their parents and most of their siblings still live in West Chester or other nearby communities. And now, their common “mission” is parenting four children under age 8.
Ed met Emily after they graduated from high school and Ed started hanging out with his older sister Mary and some of her friends. One of those friends was Emily. “Things just clicked for me and Ed!” Emily said fondly. Perhaps they clicked due to their common interest in sports: In high school, Ed had played football, basketball and lacrosse; Emily started teaching swimming lessons when she was 13. As their romance developed, they discovered that their paths had crossed before they met, and that Ed knew a lot of Emily’s friends before he met her.
After Emily graduated from high school, she attended Penn State. While pursuing her B.S. in Elementary Education, she continued developing her skills as a swimming instructor, giving private and semi-private lessons primarily to faculty members’ children. After graduating in 2004, she moved back to West Chester, and started teaching 7th-grade Math at Paxon Hollow Middle School. While teaching full-time, Emily also attended Arcadia University part-time, and earned her Master’s degree in Instructional Technology in 2009. Emily’s love of teaching (and learning) motivated her to earn a doctoral degree in Educational Leadership from Neumann University in 2013.
Emily and Ed Speer
Photo courtesy of Sierra Clark Photography www.SierraClarkPhoto.com
After Ed graduated from high school, he decided to attend St. Joseph’s University (“St. Joe’s”) because his older sister Bernadette had gone there. He liked the campus and the school’s basketball program. Ed was on the JV basketball team, when the Varsity team was “in its heyday.” He enjoyed sports so much that he pursued a degree in Marketing with an emphasis on Sports and Entertainment Marketing.
In 2005, as a Junior at St. Joe’s, Ed got the opportunity to intern with the Phillies. Although it wasn’t in their Marketing Department, he hoped it might lead to that after graduation. His two-year internship in the Phillies Operations Department went very well, and helped him realize that Operations, not Marketing, is his “niche.” Ed started working there full-time in 2007. When the Phillies won the World Series in 2008, Ed got a World Series Ring too. Ed says his job is very interesting and each day is different. He sometimes travels with the team, for security purposes. His Feb-Oct schedule is busy and hectic, with many 12-hour days (or longer when a night game goes into extra innings). Other months, his work schedule is typically weekdays 9-5. Ed loves his job with the Phillies, and plans on staying there indefinitely.
Once Ed and Emily met in 2007, they quickly discovered their common love for camping and hiking. They started camping with local friends, a tradition that continues today. Their love of the outdoors prompted Ed to propose to Emily while they were on a hike at Ridley Creek State Park.
The Speer Family at Veterans Memorial Park in Broomall: (left to right) Eddie, mom Emily holding Richie, Beatrix, dad Ed holding Daphne
Photo courtesy of Sierra Clark Photography www.SierraClarkPhoto.com
In September 2010, they got married at Saints Simon and Jude Catholic Church in West Chester. They honeymooned that Christmas on a cruise to the Bahamas. As their cruise ship sailed out of Baltimore harbor, it was snowing. When they woke up the next morning off the coast of Miami, they laughed as they watched deep snow quickly melting on the ship’s decks!
Emily and Ed have lived in Broomall for 10 years. It’s the perfect location for them: Near their families in West Chester, a convenient commute for Ed, and a great town in which to raise a family. They fell in love from the minute they saw their house in Woods at Langford.
A big fan of those neighborhood walks is Ed and Emily’s daughter Beatrix, age 7. A 1st-grader at St. Anastasia School, she plays softball and soccer, and loves to swim. Beatrix is in the Girl Scouts, and loves reading and arts and crafts projects. Her motherly personality is evident as she plays with her American Girl dolls and dotes over her younger siblings.
Eddie, age 5, attends Little Explorers Preschool in Havertown. He also loves to swim, and he plays soccer, basketball, T-Ball and lacrosse. Gymnastics and Pokémon are his other favorite activities. A “friendly and kind” little guy, Eddie LOVES working outside with his dad Ed.
Little sister Daphne is a “silly, loving and outgoing” 3-year-old. Not attending school yet, she loves playing with her baby dolls and getting creative with arts and crafts. Daphne also swims and enjoys her weekly gymnastics lessons.
Toddler Richie just turned 1. He’s very social and determined, perhaps due to seeing so much fun ahead of him with his three older and fun-loving siblings. Emily says Richie is “into everything, climbing everywhere, and making us babyproof things we’d never think to babyproof!” Richie’s first words were ball, soccer, and goal. Clues to what he wants to do as soon as he masters running!
The Speer children (left to right): Eddie, Daphne, Richie, Beatrix
Photo courtesy of Sierra Clark Photography www.SierraClarkPhoto.com
When Eddie was born, Emily resigned as a middle school teacher, to be a stay-at-home mom. The Speers adopted two kittens, and named them Cringer and Quincy. Having literally grown up around infants and toddlers, those cats are great with kids and are also quite friendly to strangers.
Every summer since 2017, Emily has been the busy Owner and Manager of Speer Swim School (www.SpeerSwimSchool.com). What started as “just a summer weekends side job” giving private swim lessons to children of neighbors and local friends in their own backyard pools has expanded into a well-respected seasonal water safety training school that serves clients in the Marple Newtown area and all along the Main Line. Emily thinks one reason for the school’s success is that in individual and group lessons, each swimmer’s current skill and comfort level is recognized, and instruction brings them along from there, at their own pace.
In Summer 2019, Speer Swim School started also offering swim lessons at an outdoor location for clients who don’t have their own backyard pool. This additional service was made possible by partnering with The Splash Club in Broomall. “I love knowing that we’re giving children the ability to be safe in and near the water, and giving parents the peace of mind that their children have skills to help them enjoy the water,” Emily proudly explained.
This summer, Emily hopes to give talks at local libraries and schools about Water and Swim Safety. Speer Swim School is a member of Stop Drowning Now (www.StopDrowningNow.org), a global nonprofit organization whose mission is “Educate to Eliminate Drowning.” Drowning is a leading cause of accidental death among children of all ages. Emily is excited to share with the Marple Newtown community SDN’s unique, fun and desperately needed Water Safety Curriculum, which teaches kids how to recognize drowning risks and to protect themselves and others.
These busy parents of 4 young-uns still find time to serve their local communities. Emily serves as St. Anastasia School’s Home & School Association Treasurer. Ed enjoys helping to coach youth sports teams. Last summer, he coached Eddie’s NELL T-Ball team, and he looks forward to helping with Eddie’s MN Youth Basketball Association team this winter.
Almost everyone in the Speer Family has already enjoyed several camping, hiking and kayaking trips. They expect to enjoy many more as well as an annual family vacation with Emily’s dad at a campsite near Avalon.
Ed and Emily’s lifelong love of all things outdoors and sporty has created the threads that they have woven into a unique tapestry. And we’re all blessed that they decided to hang it here in Broomall!
Nominate your neighbor to be featured in one of our upcoming issues! Contact us at LBurnett@BestVersionMedia.com.
