Boyd and Wendy Messmann have been Highland Park residents for 20 years and have been married for 26 years. Boyd, originally from Fort Wayne, Indiana, attended Indiana University (IU), The University of Kentucky (MBA) and worked for Lincoln National Life, a real estate investment banking group, covering the southeast United States. Wendy is from Houston but after attending SMU, she declared Dallas better than Houston and decided to stay. The two met through a blind date that they both describe as awkward. “Our blind date was on a Monday in January, and it was freezing cold that day,” explained Wendy. “We were the only ones in the restaurant, and it was just very awkward. I also determined that Boyd was about as geographically undesirable as possible being from Indiana. I thought “What are we even doing here?’ But, God clearly had a different plan.” Boyd described Wendy as beautiful, smart, and easy to talk to. The couple made it through that awkward first date, Boyd later relocated to Dallas, and they married a couple of years later.
Boyd and Wendy have two daughters, Blaire and Devan. Blaire, 20, is currently attending The University of Oklahoma (OU) in Norman, Oklahoma, where she is an aspiring med student. “Blaire is very driven and focused,” shared Wendy. “She is an academic star and has yet to have a B in any class. She attends honors college, received an academic scholarship, and will likely graduate in three years.” Blaire held the national title of United States of America’s Teen in 2019 and despite the frills and glamour of that title, Wendy describes Blaire as very down-to-earth. 15-year-old Devan is a cheerleader at Highland Park High School and competes on a varsity level 4 all-star competitive cheer team. “She stays very busy with cheer,” explained Boyd. “She is very dedicated and starts at 6am with cheer in the morning, then school, then competitive cheer practice after school. Devan is an old soul with the biggest heart. She loves baking and is always up for a good beach.”
The Messmann family is completed by three dogs, one cat and a hedgehog. “The girls received two teacup Maltese puppies for Christmas when Blaire was 7 and Devan was 3, and they named them Ginger Sparkles and Holly Noel,” said Wendy. “We then found our sweet Leo, and against better judgement, we now have a cat and a hedgehog. Devan loves every animal and is always looking to add more. If she’s not a vet later in life, she has missed her calling!”
Anyone who knows the Messmanns would tell you that they are all about the holidays with Christmas being the super bowl of all holidays. Decorating is a well-orchestrated collaboration with Wendy and Boyd. Family events consist of costume contests (even at Christmas), white elephant parties, candy house decorating contests – that may or may not involve a trophy that the winning family gets to proudly display at their home for the coming year.
Sports are also important to the Messmanns. Boyd grew up as both a Bears fan and a Packers fan and was named after Boyd Dowler, tight end for Green Bay. “My mom loved the Packers, and my dad loved the Bears,” said Boyd. “Since being in Texas, my loyalties have switched, and we definitely support the Cowboys.” Wendy is an avid football fan, and football season is her favorite time of year. “Boyd also loves basketball, but I just find it so painful to watch,” laughed Wendy. For Halloween, the Messmanns celebrated their love of football by representing the four teams in their lives with pumpkins made for their porch. “We had SMU, IU, OU, and Highland Park,” said Wendy. They also Boulevard as often as they can. “SMU fans can make the best of every situation,” said Wendy. The fans really participate and people from the opposing teams always comment about the great tradition of Boulevard. It’s a fun event and people take pride in it.”
In addition to sports, the Messmann family also have a love for travel. “We always wanted the kids to see the world and have an appreciation for different cultures,” said Boyd. “They have traveled from a young age and have been to Italy, Hong Kong, Thailand, all throughout Europe, and have been on mission trips to Guatemala and Nicaragua.” Perhaps their favorite trip, though, is a family trip to St. Thomas. They are currently planning a trip to Greece, and Blaire is considering a semester in Italy, so a new reason to visit Italy may be on the horizon!
Locally, Wendy and Boyd enjoy dining out, and some of their favorite places are Café Pacific and Al Biernat’s. “Not only is the food consistently wonderful, but we have also so many great memories from when the kids were young,” shared Wendy. When Blaire was an infant, we would take her in her carrier, and Al Biernat’s had a windowsill where she would sleep peacefully during dinner. Another memory is when, at around age 9, Devan wrote a blog where she reviewed the escargot at Café Pacific!”
There are many reasons to love Highland Park, but the strong, cohesive community and great schools are what brought Boyd and Wendy here. After living in Arizona for three years for Boyd’s career and while Wendy obtained an MBA at Arizona State University, they built a house in Plano. “After moving to Plano, we would always find ourselves driving back to the Park Cities on the weekends,” explained Wendy. “I was pregnant with Blaire, and we had only been in our new home for four months before we decided to start the whole process over again and built a house in Highland Park.”
Boyd and Wendy are very active in the community while juggling a busy family and demanding careers. Wendy has managed money for over 25 years and is currently Market Leader, Managing Director for Bank of America Private Bank and Boyd, with a background in real estate, financing, and lending, launched a national acquisition platform for Vertical Ventures. Giving back to the community is a core tenet of their family and a value that is important they instill in their children. Currently they are very involved with the Crystal Charity Ball and Wendy is board chair at CitySquare. They are also passionate about New Friends New Life, The Cattle Barons Ball supporting the American Cancer Society, The Junior League of Dallas, and the CFA Society of Dallas.
With a busy schedule and a passion for non-profit work, Wendy is working on bringing more margin into her life for 2023. “I’ve been reading a great book about margin,” she said. “I heard about the book at a recent National Charity League meeting that my daughters and I are a part of, and I’m working to apply that to my life. Things are going to come up in your life that you can’t predict, and you have to be able to adjust for those things.” Likewise, Boyd said that de-stressing and taking time for yourself is something that the family is focused on this year. “We would love to do some more traveling and just spend more quality time together as a family.”