After moving from Plano in 2012, the Watermans now reside on Amherst in a charming house built in 1933. Seeking a more inclusive school environment for their daughter, Happy, the Watermans moved to be a part of Highland Park ISD when Happy was entering her junior year and their son, Nick, was entering his sophomore year. With a business degree from the University of Maine, Bob has been in the media business for nearly 40 years with the majority of that time with CBS Radio, now called Audacy. Kelly has a degree in journalism and marketing from TCU and spent the first part of her career in corporate America in sales and management for the consumer packaged goods industry and CBS Promotions. The two met when Kelly was a client for the radio station where Bob was sales manager. At the time, she was sales manager for Kraft Foods/Oscar Mayer, and Bob was with KPLX. Kelly later formed an LLC to do contract project work, and she is currently a distributor for Aquaphalt, a high-performance cold patch for asphalt. The Waterman children both graduated from HPHS, and Happy went on to graduate from the Transition 18+ program in 2017. She now has a parttime job with Reading Glasses, Inc. where she works two days per week, and she attends HEROES, a day program based out of Richardson, the other three days. “She loves her work at Reading Glasses, Inc.,” shared Kelly. “She assembles 400-500 boxes per workday which is amazing. She truly loves it, and I love sharing what she does so other businesses can begin thinking of how they can hire someone with special needs.” Nick graduated from the US Air Force Academy in Business Management and is entering his fourth year of service as part of his five-year commitment. Sports and competition run in the family. Bob played football for four years at the University of Maine and played rugby for the Dallas Harlequins for 15 years. “Nick also played football at Highland Park High School,” said Kelly. “He was on the Player Committee and was one of the track team captains. He accepted an offer to play football at USAFA and did so for his first year before transferring to the USAFA Rugby team where he continued to excel, ranking in the top 10 collegiate rugby players in his position.” Happy is also involved with competitions, competing at the state level riding horses for the Special Olympics. “Every January, she competes at the Chisholm Challenge for riders with disabilities,” said Bob. “This takes place in Fort Worth and is associated with the Fort Worth Stock Show.” She also competes in HP Special Olympics Track and joins Bob every Sunday for a game of golf. Advocating for Happy and others with special needs has always been important to the family. Kelly is a special needs advocate and has served on several boards. She currently serves on the board for ManeGait Therapeutic Horsemanship in McKinney where Happy rides weekly. ManeGait serves children and adults with disabilities, as well as veterans. Kelly also introduced the Sparkling Scots Cheerleading Squad to Highland Park High School. “We came from an inclusive cheer squad in Plano and saw the need here, explained Kelly. “In 2013, I put together a presentation complete with data, pictures, suggestions, how-to and secured funding to start up the inclusive squad. The Highland Park HS principal at the time, Walter Kelly, loved the idea and accepted it immediately. The squad started out with five members, including Happy. Now, nine years later, the squad has grown significantly and includes male cheerleaders which was the hope someday. They are now called the Spirited Scots, and I couldn’t be more proud!” Additionally, when Nick was in high school, he participated in the Peer Buddy program which matched him with a special needs student, Jillian Letier. He remains in contact with her and flew home from the Air Force Academy in 2017 to surprise her and escort her to her senior prom. As a family, the Watermans love to entertain, travel and spend time with family. Bob and Nick both love to hunt, fish, and BBQ, and love sports, especially rugby. Happy loves movies, coloring, writing, and texting and calling friends. Her true love is horseback riding and has competed for years at the Texas State Special Olympics Equestrian Games. They have traveled around the US and internationally, with a trip to Africa in 2019 being one of their favorites. Bob and Kelly enjoy living in the Park Cities community and like to compare University Park to Mayberry RFD saying, “It truly is a small-town neighborhood feel smack dab in the middle of the city. The location is ideal! Our initial plan was to get the kids in school, and then move away after they graduated. We had no idea, however, how much we would love this neighborhood, and are so happy we decided to stay!”
Featured Family For September: The Watermans
