Billy and Maureen Sommers met as sophomores at Plymouth-Whitemarsh High School in 1980. “We didn’t have the same friend circles in our sophomore year and didn’t interact much,” shares Billy, noting that changed in the winter/early spring of 1981 when Maureen had to ask Billy to pay his delinquent candy sale money. “I fell hard for Mo after their first conversation.”
After realizing that Mo would have to keep harassing him until he paid up, he cleverly kept coming up with excuses not to pay for a while. “These interactions and a prompt from our friend Caroline Thomas resulted in Billy asking Mo to the Junior Prom. “We’ve been together ever since — and had no idea we’d be writing about this 42 years later!”
Scroll down for our Q&A with these high school sweethearts who are now mom and dad to 3 adults.
How did Billy propose? After seven years of dating, Billy asked Mo to marry him in the summer of 1988 at Fort Washington State Park. We spent a lot of time at the park through high school and college. It was a special place for us.
We’d love to hear the details about your wedding and family. We were married at St. Matt’s in Conshohocken on October 22, 1989. Chrissy Sommers (PW ’83), Susan Diamond (PW ’84), Diana Granese (PW ’82 RIP), Gail Huber (PW ’82), Joe Fiorillo (PW ’82), and John McCaffrey (PW ’82) were in our wedding party. We had our reception at the Jefferson House (which sadly burned down since then). We have three kids (two boys and a girl) and a dog. Derek (28) lives in San Francisco, CA, and works for Jefferies, an investment bank, as an equity analyst covering FinTech. Mary (25) lives in SoHo/NYC and works for Prudential in Investor relations. Hayden (21) is still in school studying Engineering/Computer Science. Maisie, our yellow lab, is 3.
Tell us about your journey as a couple. Our journey as a couple over the years has been a wonderful adventure. We began our married life in Conshohocken and bought our first home in Exton, PA. We moved to the Richmond, VA area in 1992. This was the first of several job-related moves for Bill. After several years in VA and the birth of our first child, we moved to NJ to be closer to family in 1997. In 2000, Bill was offered an opportunity to work in the UK. We happily agreed and settled in Stokesley, North Yorkshire, approximately 200 miles northeast of London, with now two children.
In July 2001, Bill’s company brought us back to the US, and we settled in West Chester, PA, and added our third child in 2002. Two years later, we were back in North Yorkshire, exploring Europe with three children. This time in our life was our greatest adventure. We developed lifelong family friends with whom we’ve visited back and forth throughout the years and 2005 brought us back to the West Chester area, which we now consider home. In recent years our house in Sea Isle City has become our happy place. We’ve been blessed with a loving family and good friends.
Maureen shares: We had an unpleasant surprise on October 9, 2021, when Bill had a mild heart attack playing in a paddle tennis tournament. We decided to contact Bill’s classmate since kindergarten and PW ’82 grad Steve Ksiazek for a second opinion. As you all know, Steve is a cardiologist based in Bethlehem, PA. We are very appreciative of Steve, who saw us immediately and couldn’t have been more helpful. Long story short, we elected the most aggressive option. On December 28, 2021, Bill had quintuple bypass surgery. Thankfully, it was a success, and Bill is back to playing paddle, pickleball, and golf. He even took up running (which he hates) and did the Broad Street Run with Maureen and Mary in 2023. We’re doing it again in May 2024. Bill returned to work for nine months and then retired in 2022. We’re now trying to focus on the things that make us happy – reading, baking sourdough bread, visiting our kids, playing golf, paddle and pickleball, and spending time in Sea Isle.
What love advice do you have for others? We’re not claiming we’ve always done this, but here’s our advice: If you’re lucky enough to find your person, make them your world, love them, and be kind and gentle. When the tough times come, let the little things go, and don’t give up!
About Billy Sommers
What has been your path since graduating from PW?
My path since high school has always been to Maureen. She is kind, loving, smart and beautiful. She is my everything and the love of my life. Anyone who knows us well knows that I significantly outkicked my coverage. I don’t think she even realizes it. My biggest fear is that she will figure this out.
Mo and I have three awesome kids. Our two oldest are now full-on “adulting” and off the payroll (phew!!). Our youngest is still in school. Our kids are all good students and athletic. Over the years, I spent most of my non-working time on athletic fields, in gymnasiums, and auditoriums, being amazed by our kids.
On the professional side, I graduated in 1986 from the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science with a degree in accounting (minor in finance). My 1st job out of school was with a “Big 8” public accounting firm called Coopers & Lybrand (now PriceWaterhouseCoopers). After a few years in public accounting, I spent the next 20 years with large, multinational companies (ICI/AstraZeneca, Danaher, and Ametek). For the last 15 years, I have held several CFO roles with private equity-sponsored companies. Along the way, I got my CPA certification and an MBA from the University of Delaware.
What did you dream of becoming when you were in high school? In high school, I was a well-meaning knucklehead. I didn’t have a professional focus or dream. I was competitive with sports and most concerned with having fun. I didn’t spend much time on academics. I wasn’t mature enough to take advantage of all that PW had to offer, and I regret that. In college, I chose to major in accounting/finance because I thought I would like it, but I didn’t really know where it might lead. But eventually, I got there. I matured a bit in college, became more tenacious, and focused on academics and a future career. Luckily, I had two professors who took an interest and mentored me.
What advice would you give your high school self? I wish I were involved in more creative endeavors. In high school I was uncomfortable doing things I was unfamiliar with or just not good at. My parents were both artists. Probably because of this, I had no interest in art, and to this day, I can barely draw a stick figure. My advice to my high school self would be to get out of your comfort zone! Take more art classes, learn to play an instrument, participate in school plays, and join DECA!!
What would you like to say to all of your classmates today? Hello my PW brothers and sisters! I really enjoyed my time at PW. I think of it often. I hope you and your loved ones are all in good health and happy. I hope you’re surrounded by family and good friends!
About Maureen Diamond Sommers
What has your path been since graduating from PW? I received my BSN from Villanova in 1986 and worked at CHOP in a neonatal care unit until we moved to VA in 1992 when I began working in case management. Throughout the years, I have worked in various part-time roles while the kids were young — home care and pediatric office RN positions. I returned to full-time work in 2017 as a regional manager for a managed care company until 2019. However, my most treasured job was raising three fantastic humans and two minimally trained dogs! I’m currently trying to figure out my “second act.” Until then, we’re/I’m visiting our two oldest kids in San Francisco and NYC, working on my golf game, and enjoying time in SIC.
What did you dream of becoming when you were in high school? My dream was to become the next Jessica Savitch, so I went to Penn State to study communications. I soon switched to nursing and got my BSN from Villanova. I still enjoy a good news story!
What advice would you give to your high school self?Try not to worry about what you can’t control. Enjoy the ride as much as possible!!
What would you like to say to all of your classmates today? I appreciate you all more as the years go by. I enjoy seeing you share on social media, where I am more of an observer than a contributor. It’s great to see those exciting life moments online, but really looking forward to reconnecting in person!