Connie Speer

Connie Speer was born to Jack Speer and Pat Conner in 1955. Jack, a fighter pilot, died in a plane crash when she was only six years old, leaving her mother with four children, Connie being the oldest (the other three were named Jack, Paula, and Sherilyn). (Two more siblings, Chuck and Ginger Docekal, were added through her mother's next marriage.) Attracted to the stage at a young age, Connie went through several theater groups in the DFW area while attending several different colleges, some of which included the University of Texas in Austin and Tarrant County College. In her late twenties, she became an employee at the Film Actor's Lab where she met her husband, Rocky Patterson. Together they took up residence in Grapevine, Texas and, while still working at the Film Actor's Lab, gave birth to their one and only child. Money was tight, and after moving to Arlington in 1990, the marriage became strained and the two filed for divorce. Connie lived with their only child, working odd jobs to support them and ultimately landed a position alongside her mother. Her mother had opened the ceramics supplier years before, and Connie had often worked there to earn extra money. She worked her way up, eventually becoming Vice President of the company.