“Hey, do you want to get married?”
Fifty-eight years later, and that joke from Beth to Bob outside the student dorms of the University of Tennessee seems prescient. Having met on a blind date arranged by their peers, they laughed, “not thinking that we would be married by that time a year later.”
The Woodlands knows the Feresters for their longstanding real estate presence, but few likely know the secret to their long, loving marriage: growing up together in the schools of family life and business management.
Having moved to Houston in 1981 “with four children, a high-interest-rate loan of 17%—which makes me wonder why everyone complains about interest rates of 6-7%—and only one of us working…something had to happen,” Beth says.
All Hands On Deck
The act of raising their four children—three daughters, Shannon, Courtney, and Rory, and their “free spirit” son, Ryan—while both Beth and Bob worked meant few idle hands. Everyone functioned as a team to keep the household running smoothly, each with their own job. While the Ferester kids might hand out flags on the Fourth of July, Beth authored cookbooks with recipes from her clients.
Bob and Beth led the charge, sharing dinner duties and ferrying the kids to school and extracurriculars, while the older children helped with their younger siblings.
“We made it a game with them, which was actually fun.”
Family First
By the early ‘90s, Beth decided to open her own company, and after increasing success, elected to bring on a managing broker to free her to do what she loved most—selling real estate. Bob was the first choice.
“I appreciate Bob's patience and ability to put all of us first, no matter what he has to do in order to do it,” says Beth. “As for Bob, he appreciates—while sometimes finding it difficult—my determination and persistence.”
Having lost her father at just 19, Beth learned early to make the most of time with loved ones and not take Bob for granted.
The Feresters, while loving their work in real estate and having “no intention of retiring any time soon,” are family-focused. They enjoy spending downtime together at their summer home in Maine and keep up as a family via group texts with their children and grandchildren titled, the “Original Six” and “Descendents of Beth,” respectively.
58 and Counting
Bob and Beth know they’re blessed.
“The main thing that has made ours a great marriage is that we have supported each other in everything we have done,” Beth says.
For the Feresters, the days of turning monotonous, hard work into playful games for the whole family are far from over. Granddaughter Grace even joined Beth and Bob in the family business six years ago.
When asked about one thing people would be surprised to learn about their relationship, Beth replied: “That we have been married for 58-plus years and [are] still having fun.”