7 minute read
The Magee Family: Proving "The Best Is Yet to Come!"
Resident Feature by Liz Burnett
Photos by Shannon Lynn Photography www.ShannonLynnPhotography.com
Thanks to Alpha Century Security of Newtown Square for sponsoring our Resident Feature.
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When we sat down to talk with the Magee Family, their individual and shared stories quickly made it clear that they’re the kind of Newtown Square neighbors who expect — and are doing everything they can — to prove that “the best is yet to come!”
Brendan Magee grew up in Havertown, and attended Monsignor Bonner High School and Temple University, where he enjoyed playing on both schools’ Tennis teams. After graduating from Temple, he worked for five years in the mid-’90s as a Financial Planner for a Main Line firm. He became frustrated with the substandard returns the firm’s mutual funds were producing, but what pushed Brendan over the edge was the lack of answers for why the so-called “experts” couldn’t maintain consistent performance. He got to the point where he had to find a better way to help people or find a new profession.
Brendan's prayers were answered and he found his calling in 1994, when he was fortunate enough to meet four Nobel Prize winners in the field of economics from The University of Chicago. They showed him that the world of investing worked very differently from what Wall Street tells the public. With that, he found the way to help people discover how markets really work and have the peace of mind they wanted to experience.
Jennifer and Brendan Magee
Now rewind a bit and meet Brendan’s wife Jennifer. She grew up in Sharon Hill. At Cardinal O’Hara High School, her experience on the track team developed her stamina and fitness, and prepared her to have a great experience as a member of the crew team when she attended Washington College on Maryland’s Eastern shore. After Jennifer graduated in 1995 with a B.A. in English and a minor in History, she stayed and coached crew there for a couple years while she worked toward her Master’s in English, with a plan to someday be an English professor and teach Shakespeare. But after Jennifer discovered “a whole new world” while working at a camp for Catholic and Protestant children in northern Ireland and then also worked for a few years in the DC area, she got excited about and committed to “teaching peace.”
While Jennifer was working on her Ph.D. in Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University, she lived at home with her parents in Aldan. During a 2006 Christmas party they hosted for all their relatives, Jennifer’s aunt played matchmaker, by calling and inviting Brendan to “come to this party and meet this girl!” Brendan accepted that invitation, and he and Jennifer met and chatted that night. Two weeks later, Brendan called Jennifer and asked her out. As they planned their first date, Jennifer suggested that they go together to 5pm Saturday Mass and then go out for dinner. That’s the moment Brendan knew that Jennifer was very special and the woman he wanted to marry. When they got engaged six months later, Jennifer was teaching an Introduction to Peace and Conflict Studies course at Swarthmore College. They got married in October 2007, and waited until the following summer to honeymoon in the Grand Cayman Islands.
After their honeymoon, Jennifer and Brendan purchased her parents’ home in Aldan because her dad was ill and her parents were downsizing and moving to Newtown Square. By 2015, The Magees, now a family of four, needed more space, so they moved to their Newtown Square home in Green Country Village, which they love. They feel blessed to have had some quality time with Jennifer’s dad before he passed away. The Magees are also grateful to live in the same neighborhood as Jennifer’s mom.
Brendan and Jennifer also appreciate how much the Marple Newtown School District has helped them as parents by providing such a great educational and social experience for their sons Liam and Owen.
(L-R) Owen and Liam Magee
Photo by Shannon Lynn Photography www.ShannonLynnPhotography.com
Brendan and Jennifer’s older son, Liam, just turned 11. One of his favorite hobbies is making Origami finger puppets. Math is his favorite subject this year as a 5th-grader at Culbertson Elementary. This winter, Liam enjoyed playing on a Marple Newtown Recreation Youth Basketball team, which his dad Brendan coached. “Liam has a wonderful personality and is a lot of fun to be around!” Brendan said. “He makes friends very easily, and is especially conscious of other people’s feelings.” Liam thinks he might like to work someday as a blogger and a YouTuber who creates gaming videos.
Younger son Owen is a 3rd-grader at Culbertson. His favorite school subject is also Math and his favorite TV show is Planet Earth. This well-rounded 9-year-old likes to bowl, golf, practice jiu-jitsu, and play the recorder and ukulele. He’s looking forward to his third year playing baseball on a NELL team. Owen used to say he’d be a pilot someday, but his curiosity and interest in the world now has him planning to be a “stay-at-home scientist,” so he can be home for his kids and work on experiments in his basement! “Owen has a caring, tender heart,” Jennifer said fondly. “Family is Owen’s top priority, especially looking out for his brother.” “Owen’s got a thousand faces he uses, to make you laugh,” added Brendan, “and to let you know how much he loves you.”
(L-R) Jennifer, Owen, Liam, and Brendan Magee at Sawmill Park, with their Labradoodle Toby
Photo by Shannon Lynn Photography www.ShannonLynnPhotography.com
Last year, when a Labradoodle joined the Magee Family, Liam named their puppy Toby. Now a full-grown all-around good dog, Toby’s favorite things to do are run all around Sawmill Park and swim in the creek there.
Since 1998, Brendan has owned and run his own business, Inevitable Wealth Coaching (www.CoachGee.com). As an Investor Coach, Brendan lives to help families fulfill their American Dream. He does that by empowering families to discover their true purpose for life and money, and then align their investing with those two purposes. He describes his coaching as a process where people transform their experience of money and investing and become free to create the life they always wanted for themselves and their family. Brendan has just published his second book, The Investor’s Bill of Rights: Owning Your American Dream, which he hopes investors will use to tip the odds of success in their favor. The book is available from online booksellers.
Jennifer still very much enjoys working at Swarthmore College. She serves as the Senior Associate Director of their Lang Center for Civic and Social Responsibility. In alignment with Ernest Boyer’s definition of Engaged Scholarship, the Lang Center facilitates teaching and research that connects the campus, community, and curriculum in ways that can address significant civic and social problems. Jennifer loves being part of a talented and motivated team that helps students, staff, faculty and community partners identify opportunities to co-create knowledge, enhance collective social capital, and make forward progress for the common good.
The Magee Family at Sawmill Park in Newtown Square
Photo by Shannon Lynn Photography www.ShannonLynnPhotography.com
Brendan and Jennifer serve their local communities in several ways. Brendan has volunteered as a NELL Coach, and is currently a Lector at their church, St. Anastasia. Jennifer is a volunteer with Compass, a pro bono strategic consulting firm. In the greater Philadelphia region (including Delaware County), Compass strengthens the capacity, effectiveness and sustainability of local nonprofits.
A five-year Magee family tradition is summer vacations in Avalon and enjoying the delicious food at the nearby Crab House restaurant at Two Mile Landing in Wildwood. Another tradition, fostered by Jennifer’s dear Vietnam Veteran dad, is to expect that “The best is yet to come!” That’s clearly what Brendan and Jennifer Magee are committed to making possible, for their sons Liam and Owen and for the good folks in the local communities they serve.
Do you know a family that readers of our magazine might like to meet in an upcoming issue? Nominate them by email to Liz Burnett at LBurnett@BestVersionMedia.com.
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