My mom, Brenda, retired in 2005 from teaching fifth grade for Pekin Public School District #108 for 30+ years. She finished her career teaching at Washington Intermediate School. She previously taught at Wilson and CB Smith. She was a member of SILT (School Improvement Leadership Team) and served a term as its facilitator, and was also a mentor teach an served on numerous committees. She is a graduate of Illinois State University. She now works part-time in the office at the Tazewell County Regional Office of Education, and is the GED Examiner.

My dad, Ernie, is a plant scheduler for the Evonik Industries plant in Mapleton, Illinois. He schedules the shipments of packaged goods in and out of the plant. He is a member of the Pekin Basketball Boosters Club and is a past president and secretary, and is a past member of the Pekin Insurance Holiday Tournament committee. He is a member and a past treasurer of the Quarterback Club (the PCHS football boosters club). He is a graduate of Western Illinois University.

I have a younger brother, Jeremy, who graduated from Eureka College in May 2002 with a BS in Communication. While at Eureka he was a two sport athlete, playing football for three years and also participating in Track and Field. Jeremy was a member of the Campus Activities Board, serving one term as President; Student Foundation; and the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity. Jeremy was previously the Director of Business Operations for the now defunct Peoria Rough Riders United Indoor Football team. Prior to joining the Rough Riders front office, he was an Account Executive with the Peoria Chiefsbaseball team, a minor league affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, dealing with season and group tickets. He has also worked as a Marketing and Development assistant with the Bradley University athletic department, and was an intern for the Peoria Pirates during their AF2 inaugural season in  2002. He currently is a board member and recording secretary for the Pekin Quarterback Club.