Mary South
Fishing in Charlottesville
Meet the South family of five: Chad, Mary, Peyton, Brooks, Scarlett, and their pet Cash, who
have called Hallsley home for about three years!
While Mary grew up in the midwest in Nebraska, Chad is from the South in Texas. Mary
attended Concordia College in Seward, Nebraska, for her undergraduate degree and UNMC for
Physical Therapy. She has been a practicing Physical Therapist for 30 years and currently
is a Physical Therapist and Pilates Instructor. As for Chad, he attended Kansas State
University and the University of Houston for an MBA, and now, he is an Oil Broker. The
couple’s love story began in Nebraska at a pool party. Prior to living in Hallsley, the Souths lived
in Northshore Chicago in Glencoe, Illinois.
Twenty-six-year-old Peyton is a full-time Firefighter in Charlotte, NC. Meanwhile, twenty three-
year-old Brooks is a financial analyst for Bell Helicopter in Ft. Worth, TX. Their
ninetee-year-old sister, Scarlett, is a Business Major at JMU and is currently getting her private
pilot license. Peyton, Brooks, and Scarlett are Good Shepard Luthern Church members and
support its Child Development Center. On that note, they are also actively engaged with not-forprofit
organizations such as Families Forward Virginia, a nonprofit organization dedicated to
disrupting the cycles of child abuse, neglect, and property, and ASK Childhood Cancer
Foundations.
The South Family cherishes traditions throughout the year. During the Thanksgiving season, the
Souths have a tradition of doing a new family adventure the Friday after Thanksgiving. Last
year, they hiked Mary’s Rock at Shenandoah National Park and went skeet shooting at Old
Forge Sporting Clays. “We love to visit our kids, and our most recent trip
was to Nashville, TN.” Mary and her ten siblings also get together every summer for a Meyer
family reunion in Nebraska. “This past year, there were nearly 90 people in attendance,” the
Souths explain. As for traveling, the Souths try to explore a different place every vacation. One
of their most memorable vacations was on the island of Bonaire off the coast of Venezuela.
Sports teams are a sensitive topic in the South household, as the Nebraska Huskers (Mary’s
favorite) and Kansas State Wildcats (Chad’s favorite) are big rivals. The family wholeheartedly
says, “...it was always a fight whose ornament would be higher on the Christmas tree, so we
had to find neutral ground and settled with Arkansas Razorbacks since Chad’s dad played
quarterback at Arkansas.” The Souths like almost every genre of music, but the kids and Chad
are still trying to kindle a liking of country music in Mary.
As a family, the Souths love exploring new restaurants in the Richmond area, with their top
favorites being Grisette and Gersi. They also love outdoor hiking, biking, paddle boarding, and
going to the beach, ”which we find is easy access all around the Richmond area,” the family
adds. In addition to discovering new restaurants in Richmond, they have family dinners every
Sunday with Chad’s parents and his brother and sister-in-law, who all live nearby. The Souths
enjoy unwinding by playing pickleball and golf and “hanging out with our fabulous neighbors in
Hallsley.”
In the three years the Souths have lived in Hallsley, they have loved and cherished every
moment. “Our neighbors are fantastic, and we love spending time with them; Fawley Road
Rules!” the Souths passionately said.