Meet your neighbor: The Peck family

Meet the Peck family of four. Mark and Kelli Peck and their two boys, Aden, 13, and Brayden, 8. They live in the home they built just east of Wyman on Kelli’s parents, Pam and Harold Humphery’s farm where Kelli grew up.

She has a younger brother, Jake. Kelli graduated from WMU in 1998, from the University of Northern Iowa in 2002, and earned her master’s at Regis University in Denver, Colorado in 2011. With her degree in hand, Kelli started her teaching career with the Department of Defense Dependents Schools in Seoul, South Korea, where she taught for five years.

Kelli met her future husband Mark Peck in September of 2003. Kelli was teaching in Seoul while Mark was on his second duty station after he reenlisted for Korea while in Afghanistan.

“We met at a running club in Korea. They ran every Saturday morning and we both showed up to the same run one day,” Kelli said.

They were married in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in November 2006, right after Mark returned from his first deployment to Iraq, then had a church wedding the following year in Iowa. They have been married 18 years.

Their first home was in Colorado Springs where they lived for three years before moving to Fort Sill in Lawton, Oklahoma, for three years, Fort Riley in Junction City, Kansas for two and a half years, Kittery, Maine for three years and finished Mark’s military journey at Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina. They have lived in Iowa for the past three years.

Mark was born in Elkins, West Virginia to Larry Peck and Gail Stump. He has two siblings, Patrick, and Natasha. Mark attended Buckhannon-Upshur High School and obtained a BS in Human Resource Management and Business Administration from Columbia College in Columbia, Missouri in 2020.

Mark enlisted in the United States Army and attended Basic Training and Airborne School at Fort Benning, Georgia in 1999-2000 and spent 22 years serving his country. Mark had numerous positions throughout his military career from airborne infantry soldier, rifleman, machine gunner, team leader, squad leader, platoon sergeant, company first sergeant, and had small arms marksmanship training—train the trainer.

While serving in the Army Mark was deployed to Iraq twice as well as Afghanistan. Mark retired from the military in September 2021 and is currently working in Human Resources at the University of Iowa, while Kelli is a middle school Language Arts teacher at Highland.

To say they have traveled is an understatement. It is hard to imagine moving so often you barely have time to unpack! Their travels took them from Korea to Colorado plus 18 other countries as well as almost all of the states. Kelli and Mark agreed that Maine was their favorite location.

Are they done traveling? “No,” said Kelly, “I would like to visit Italy and take the boys to Korea where we met.”

Mark would like to visit Normandy and the rest of France.

When asked why they decided to settle in Iowa, Kelli explained, “We picked Iowa because we wanted to be close to family and have our kids spend time with their grandparents. We spent years moving to places where family wasn’t near, so you tend to notice that having family close is an amazing thing to have. We also wanted to live out in the country after living in so many cities. The openness and calm are amazing. The biggest pro is having more space and family and friends near by. There aren’t many cons but the ability to walk to Starbucks or the Commissary (aka) grocery store are missed at times.”

When asked if they miss certain things from their previous life, Kelli replied, “We do miss meeting new people from all over the world. The moves also enabled us to experience new places and things that we may not have normally had a chance to see or do.”

Alden, their first born, was born in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, on June 20, 2011, and has lived in Oklahoma, Maine, South Carolina and now Iowa. He is in 8th grade at WMU and is involved in football, trap, basketball, track, baseball, and 4-H.

Brayden was born in Durham, New Hampshire, on December 23, 2015 and is in 3rd grade at WMU. He also plays football (and had his dad for a coach). His other activities include Trampoline Gymnastics, wrestling, basketball, and baseball.

Kelli said, “The boys love living in Iowa on the farm and having a lot of things to do on the farm. They also enjoy living close to grandma and grandpa. They said WMU school is fun, and they have some good friends.”

Kelli and Mark’s most memorable experiences are their first trip together to Beijing, China, traveling and living all over, and watching the boys grow and learn.

Back home, Kelli enjoys cooking and football. Mark’s interests include grilling, football, and hunting. Kelli said her dad was the most influential person in her life. Mark said there were multiple influential people in his life, thanks to the military.

Kelli’s pet peeve is “eating loud,” and Mark’s is “not following the rules posted.”

Kelli said if she could change one thing it would be, “To have put a bigger pantry in our house. But honestly things happen for a reason, and we are right where we want to be.”

Kelli shares this advice for youth: “Don’t rush time—enjoy it. Enjoy life!”

Thanks to Kelli and Mark for sharing their experiences with us and welcome back to Iowa.

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