By Lynn Seeden, Contributing Writer
Joe Speake traded flip flops for cowboy boots, and a harried city life for longhorns.
He and his wife Jacqueline chose to leave California several years ago to find a place where they could someday raise children—a place with good values, good neighbors and a good community.
They hadn’t figured on raising longhorns while they were at it.
But it was the lure of land that called the Speakes as newlyweds to venture into a ranching lifestyle they never knew. They chose to raise iconic Texas longhorns on their new property.
“That’s as Texas as you can get,” Joe said.
Married in 2007, the Speakes made job moves from Colorado and Maryland to San Francisco, but they would find the cost of living to be crushing. The closest house they could purchase and still afford the monthly payments was 1-½ hours from the city. It would require a downpayment of some $200,000.
But friends and family got them thinking about the future.
“Our friends from Southlake talked to us about how business-friendly Texas is,” Joe recalled. “Then my brother asked us how long we were going to live like this in California. We were 24-25 years old at the time, and we could see that California didn’t share our values. Is this really where we want to raise our children someday?”
The Speakes said Texas immediately offered them career opportunity, affordable housing and the values they sought. “The decision was easy. In fact, Texas was the best decision we ever made.”
They made the move in late 2009, first to Trophy Club, and then to Bartonville.
Today Joe and Jacqueline are raising their four Texas-born children on an 18-acre ranch in Bartonville where they have a barn, ponds, pastures and woods, a flock of chickens and a herd of longhorns.
Days here are filled with everything they want: family, faith, neighbors, sports, friends, business and community, Joe said. “Texas has afforded us time for life.”
For instance, Joe is active with their children’s activities, both as an assistant coach for elite girls softball and as chief of the Indian Princess Hopi Tribe.
An avid sportsman, Joe hunts, deep-sea fishes and plays softball. And the entire family skis together. He’s also “the biggest Pittsburgh Steelers fan ever,” said Christine Giunca, Jacqueline’s sister and now Texas resident. “Joe will never miss a Steelers game. Period.”
Once they moved to Texas 15 years ago, Joe’s immediate family and one of his best friends followed. Then came Jacqueline’s immediate family. It is the values, family and the people that will keep the Speakes in Texas. “We wanted to live by likeminded people for years to come as we formed our family,” Joe said.
Texas remains the most popular destination for Californian transplants, with 54,136 households leaving for the Lone Star State in 2024, according to personal finance site SmartAsset.
Joe will tell you it is no coincidence that many families have been moving to Texas in recent years.
“We chose Texas because it is a freedom-based state where personal responsibility is a core value. And it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that Texas is business-friendly.”
Do they miss California at all? “We miss the views of the bay, the mountains and weather, but you couldn’t pay me to leave Texas now,” Joe said. “We didn’t move here for the weather. We moved here for the freedom. Texas is everything we wanted as a family.
“This is home.”
