This month, Marple Friends & Neighbors is pleased to introduce you to The Else Family: April, Tim, Miles and Stella. For the Elses, their home in Broomall has everything they’re looking for – the proximity to the vibrant city of Philadelphia and a large greenspace where their garden and
family can bloom.
April grew up with her younger brother Brenden in the small town of Bogota, New Jersey. Not only was the area of North Jersey where she grew up very diverse, her own family’s unique background exposed her to many different cultures. April’s mother came to the United States as a child from Cuba and Hispanic food and culture were prominent in April’s upbringing. On April’s father’s side, there was a strong Italian culture. “Let’s just say that the holiday food spreads in my family are incredible,” she said proudly.
April’s extended family was also an important part of her childhood, especially her cousins. “We are very supportive of one another,” she explained. “It is always really special when we have large family gatherings and get to see each other and the ‘next generation of cousins.”
April graduated from Bergen County Academies, a magnet high school in Hackensack, NJ, where she enrolled in the Academy for Culinary Arts and Hospitality Administration. In addition to the culinary-focused education, she participated in various culinary competitions, was a competitive cheerleader and a Girl Scout. As a Girl Scout, April had the unique opportunity to travel to medical conferences, as far as Australia, where she
provided volunteer childcare to youth patients.
After high school April moved to Philadelphia to attend Drexel University where she studied education and was very active on the Women’s Rugby team. Although she had plans to con- tinue cheerleading at Drexel, a ski accident that resulted in a torn ACL sidelined her freshman year. Lucky for April she later found a sport she wasn’t expecting: Rugby. “On my way to class one day I noticed a large recruitment sign for the Women’s Rugby team that stated in very large letters, “No experience necessary,” she recalled. “I had no experience, and I was easily convinced to give it a try. I ended up playing the sport for four years and really enjoyed it.”
After college, April spent 10 years as a Retirement Plan Administrator at Vanguard. In that role, she valued her client relationships and meticulously maintained institutional records in an effort to provide call center representatives with efficient and accurate customer service. During the pandemic and after some corporate structure changes, April found herself debating the next step in her career. “I had just had my second child and was not feeling inspired in the trajectory of my career path,” she added. “I opted to shift priorities, take some time to focus on my family and find inspiration for a career where I felt my contributions were making an impact.”
Much of April’s free time was spent in the garden, studying plants and volunteering for the Philadelphia Horticultural Society’s (PHS) Philadelphia Flower Show. “It felt like an amusement park of plants! I realized I wanted a career that felt magical,” she said. During that time, April applied for
the Master Gardener training program through Penn State. “I wanted to learn as much as possible and inspire others to develop a love and understanding of horticulture.” She learned of an opening at PHS on the Flower Show team and given her passion for horticulture and event planning, she jumped at the opportunity to pivot her career to a more creative one.
April currently works for PHS on the Shows and Events team as a Data Specialist for the PHS Philadelphia Flower Show’s Competitive Classes. The Competitive Classes area is made up of exhibits and plant entries from non-professional horticulture enthusiasts. April supports exhibitors in preparing for the show, which includes preparing and hosting workshops for exhibitors to learn from experienced horticulture exhibitors and industry leaders. “While I love planning all types of events, I’m particularly excited for one in which horticultural enthusiasts come together to celebrate the most incredible floral displays and meticulously groomed houseplants,” she said. “I am in awe of the dedication and knowledge of Flower Show exhibitors and am inspired by the variety of rare plants entered into the competition.”
April is staying very busy this month with preparations for the 2025 PHS Philadelphia Flower Show which will take place at the Pennsylvania Convention Center from March 1-9, 2025.
April’s husband Tim grew up in Drexel Hill with his parents and two older siblings, George and Colleen. He attended Garrettford Elementary School and later graduated from Upper Darby High School in 2003 where he played soccer and participated in various clubs. After high school, Tim furthered his education at West Chester University where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics Education. In 2012, he received a Masters
Degree from Cabrini College.
For the past 17 years, Tim has taught Math to English Language Learners (ELL) at Upper Darby High School. Tim said that as an educator he always finds the growth of his students over the course of a school year to be the most rewarding. “It’s especially true working with those who come from families with such limited English proficiency,” he added.
Someday Tim said he hopes to work with other educators to create a math curriculum specifically designed for English Language Learners. “I would also love to assist other surrounding school districts on how to approach accommodations for these students in the mathematics classroom,” he explained. Outside of teaching, Tim is a huge baseball fan (Go Phils!) and enjoys bowling and helping coach various sports for his eight-
year-old son.
It was a mutual love of Philadelphia sports and traveling that led to Tim and April’s relationship. They met on an online dating site while April was living in the Art Museum section of Philadelphia and Tim lived in Morton. April loved catching Tim up on sites around Philadelphia that he may have missed living in the suburbs.
The happy couple married on a warm, sunny fall day in November 2015. Rabbi Peter Rigler from Temple Sholom in Broomall performed their ceremony, and it was followed by a reception at a rustic venue in Collegeville, PA. Because of Tim’s teaching schedule, April and Tim waited until after the holidays for their honeymoon and traveled to Jamaica, where they stayed in a small treehouse-like resort. Before moving to Broomall, April and Tim began their married life in an apartment in Morton where Tim was living.
In 2017, Tim and April rang in the new year with excitement. Their son Miles was born on New Year’s Day, five weeks earlier than expected. He’s now a curious, determined, funny second grader at Russell Elementary. Miles has many hobbies including baseball, sharks, cars, science, video games, Legos and reading. He loves being with his friends and plays on the township baseball and basketball teams. One of his favorite places is the Adventure Aquarium in Camden, NJ and he loves summers at the beach and Arrowhead Day Camp.
Miles and his mom recently participated in a memorable “field trip” through the Pine Barrens in New Jersey to observe carnivorous plants in the wild. Hosted by the Mid-Atlantic Carnivorous Plant Society, they were taken to hard-to-find bog locations where they carefully walked, knee-deep, through sphagnum moss and water to find rare plants such as sundews, sarracenia and orchids. Careful to protect the plants they observed, Miles
got to learn about conservation and the risks that these plants face through poaching.
Miles’ younger sister Stella was born in 2020. Described by her mom and dad as outgoing, bubbly and empathetic, she’s currently in Preschool at Temple Sholom. “Stella is creative and loves to perform,” said April. She shows love to her friends by giving and making gifts for them. Compassionate towards all animals, Stella will pet any animal she sees. She can also be found helping in the garden and loves to visit their neighbor’s
vegetable garden for a snack!
Since she was an infant, Stella has been navigating severe food allergies. When she was just six months old, she suffered an anaphylactic reaction after trying eggs and was rushed to the hospital for epinephrine. Fortunately for the Elses, they were introduced by a friend to the Oral Immunotherapy program at CHOP. Despite a very long waitlist, Stella was admitted to the program in 2024. Since then, she has been receiving small doses of her allergens and building up a tolerance so that she may hopefully avoid any adverse reactions with accidental ingestion of eggs or peanuts. “This program has been life-changing and is doing incredible things for children with allergies,” said April.
The Else family also includes two cats: Maddie who has been with April since college and is now 17; and ten-year-old Josie, who still acts like a kitten. As a result of a first-grade pet adop- tion project, they are also very committed to caring for a tank full of fish and aquatic plants.
An interfaith family, the Elses are members of Temple Sholom, where they enjoy the diverse community and traditions of Reform Judaism. The couple’s path to joining the synagogue is unique. Although raised Catholic, April said that growing up in a diverse community allowed her to gain exposure to many different cultures and she enjoyed studying and learning about religion. “The values and traditions of Judaism sparked meaning and excitement which drove my desire to continue learning,” she explained. When she moved to the suburbs of Philadelphia, she was ready for a deeper commitment to study and sought out reform synagogues for support and guidance.
After finding Temple Sholom in Broomall, April met Rabbi Peter Rigler and instantly clicked with him. “He was welcoming, inspiring and excited to support me in my journey of exploring Judaism,” she said. After a couple of years of private study, she proceeded with the process of conversion, a beautiful and intimate event where she reflected on her journey and decision to choose Judaism. It concluded with a traditional ritual of entering the mikvah. “It was an emotional and beautiful experience,” she recalled fondly. Tim, who was raised in the Lutheran church, is also very involved and committed to the Temple Sholom community.
In 2019, the Elses decided to call Broomall home. Familiar with Broomall through their synagogue, the Marple community reminded April of the town where she grew up and Tim, being a Delco native, knew it would be a great place to raise a family. Their neighborhood near the Broomall Firehouse has lots of young families with children and Miles and Stella have several friends on their block. “We love our neighbors and neighborhood,” Tim and April said. “We are surrounded by families who have shown our children so much love and we truly feel like we have a village to lean on if needed.”
For the Elses going from an apartment to a home with a rather large greenspace to maintain was a big transition. “At the time, I knew very little about plants but knew that I wanted to change the aesthetic of our home,” April said. “As I shopped for new plants, I realized just how little I knew about appropriate plant selection and maintenance. The more I learned, the further down the rabbit hole I went. I wanted to learn everything that I could about gardens and houseplants.”
Today, April is a seed-saving gardener with a love and respect for bees and bugs. The Else home now has nearly 200 houseplants! “I love the opportunity to share plants with anyone who will take them,” she added. With the exception of cold winter days, you can find April tinkering with some sort of science experiment in the garden.
Over the last two years, April joined with a couple of neighbors to host a spring garden tour. “We have held this little event the last two years where our three houses collaborate to invite like-minded gardeners over for garden tours, refreshments and a plant and seed exchange,” April explained. Held in May, it is the perfect kick-off to warmer garden weather.
Thank you to April and Tim for showing us that you can bring people together with a little dirt, a lot of patience and a willingness to nurture what really matters.
Do you know a Marple family, individual or nonprofit group who should become known by our community? Make your nominations for upcoming feature articles by emailing your ideas to Holly Stupak at HStupak@BestVersionMedia.com.