You might meet Marine Discovery Center volunteer Jackie Creedon at the Welcome Desk, or learn about the animals in the tanks in the exhibit area when she works there as a docent, or spend time with her as a kayak-tour sweep on MDC’s kayak eco-tours.
The Pennsylvania native is the wife of MDC staff member Bob Creedon, the mother of four adult children (ages 32, 30, 28 and 26) and the proud grandmother of an infant.
Read more about Jackie in MDC’s September 2024 Volunteer Spotlight interview with staff writer Lisa D. Mickey:
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in a small town named Indiana, Pa. It’s a college town [in the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains] and home to Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP). It’s located about 45 minutes from Pittsburgh. [And yes, she is a Steelers fan.]
What is your educational background?
I did not go to college. I graduated from high school and did secretarial work with a manufacturing company that made windows and doors. Then, I worked in the quality control department for the electric company in Pennsylvania.
Western Pennsylvania is completely different from Florida, so you’ve had some changes in your life.
Oh, it’s very different! I was a country girl and we lived in the woods. I grew up riding horses and dirt-biking and having the first day of deer-hunting season off from school. My step-dad hunted and had a hunting cabin. We would go there every year and I would fish. I was always out in the woods on horses.
Is Indiana, Pa. a steel town?
People live there and drive to Pittsburgh to work. There aren’t any big businesses in my hometown. It’s really just a small little college town and when all the college people are away, it’s dead!
Where did you go from there?
I moved to Atlantic City (N.J.) and started working in the casinos. I was behind the front desk and was a secretary for the executive president for hotel operations at Showboat in Atlantic City, then I worked at Trump Castle. I had a friend who moved to Atlantic City and I wanted to get out of my small town, so that’s how I ended up there.
Where did you meet your future husband, Bob Creedon?
I met Bob in Atlantic City at a bar. He was a club disc jockey in Brigantine, N.J. – a beach town off Atlantic City. My friend knew Bob, so I met him through her. We got married in 1989. I lived in New Jersey from then until we moved to Florida in 2005. We had four kids – one girl and three boys.
Were you a stay-at-home mom when you lived in New Jersey?
I wanted to go back to work. I had just started working in a middle school as a teacher’s aide in New Jersey before we moved to Florida. Then, one of my neighbors in Florida worked at a pre-kindergarten and invited me to come check it out. I liked it immediately.
That must have been a busy household with four kids!
All of our kids played soccer. I really was a soccer mom with the soccer-mom van! It was hard for a while, because we went to a soccer game or practice every day of the week.
Why did you move to Florida?
We moved with Bob’s job. He worked for Lockheed Martin in Orlando, so we moved to Winter Springs right after the big hurricanes. We knew nobody, but we found a home and the kids started school here. We finally started meeting people and the kids got active at school. I joined the PTA and started helping out in the classrooms again. I was working as a Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten (VPK) teacher with 3-year-olds and took over a VPK class. I did that for 15 years.
Where did New Smyrna Beach fit into your lives?
We were those people who just came to New Smyrna Beach on the weekends from Orlando. We had a little duplex over here. When Covid hit in 2020, Bob was planning to work from home, but they offered him a retirement package and he retired in 2020. We came here to live permanently six years ago. I had just switched to working at a new school and I loved it. I traveled back and forth from New Smyrna Beach to work in Winter Springs for a year, but that just became too tough.
How did you get involved with MDC?
I had always wanted to be a part of Marine Discovery Center and originally, I thought I would just help with summer camps. It took a while to become a volunteer here, but everybody started leaving in 2020 with the pandemic. That’s when I scooted in and became a volunteer at the Welcome Desk.
What was your first contact with MDC?
We came here to check it out because I have always been interested in marine life. If I had gone to college, that’s probably what I would have studied.
Did you take the Florida Master Naturalist Program’s Coastal class?
Yes. Bob took the class first and then I took it. That class helped a great deal. I learned about this area and could talk about it. When I started volunteering, he wasn’t part of MDC yet. I noticed that MDC was hiring a kayak guide, so that’s how he came in. I started sweeping for him. He was guiding and I was in the back of the tour group and if people had questions about things, I could answer their questions. Later, I became a docent in the exhibit area and most recently, I have volunteered with the Dolphin Spotter program.
Do you volunteer at other places?
I volunteer with Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute with their dolphin monitoring program and I help with the Wash-Back Sea Turtle Program.
What excites you about being a part of MDC’s mission?
I feel like it’s so important that the message of our mission is getting out there and other people are learning about it. It’s not just important to our town, but to everyone.
What changes have you enjoyed watching at MDC?
The staff changes have been cool, as well as all the physical improvements to the campus and all of MDC’s public outreach.
Has there been a highlight at MDC for you as a volunteer?
I like working at the Welcome Desk because I love meeting all the people who are coming in from everywhere. I like to talk to them and learn about why they came here. I also really enjoy being on the water with the kayak tours and when I work as a docent, I can also work at the Welcome Desk.
Why is volunteering important to you?
When you volunteer, it’s not about making money. It’s doing something that means something to you and is special to you, so you want to give back in that way.
Is there something you have learned here that truly resonates with you?
I definitely have learned so much from the classes and about nature just from being around staff members and how knowledgeable everybody is.
Has being involved with MDC and working with the public changed you in any way?
Maybe I’m a little more outgoing. It’s made me want to learn and to keep learning. It’s just a great place to volunteer. Honestly, I think more people are noticing MDC. So many people come in and say, “I never knew you were here and I’ve lived here for years.”
How has MDC been a fun place you have shared as a family?
Bob and I talk about MDC and about the path that it’s taking and how awesome it is. We both really enjoy kayaking together. He enjoys being the guide and I’m just happy being involved in different things. Two of my four grown kids have been here and I can’t wait to show off the tanks in the exhibit area someday to my grandchild.
Follow Us!