All About Jessica Pegula's Parents, Terry and Kim Pegula

Jessica Pegula is one of the top-ranked tennis players in the world, and she is the daughter of Buffalo Bills owners Terry and Kim Pegula.

The professional tennis player was born in Buffalo, NY and raised in Wexford, PA where she started playing tennis at the age of 7. Over the years, Jessica has climbed the rankings — including reaching the semifinals of the 2024 US Open — all the while talking about her parents and how they contributed to her success.

Although they are co-owners of several sports clubs, Jessica’s career comes first. “We always say she’s our first sports team and our favorite,” Kim told WKBW-TV in August 2019, after Jessica won the Citi Open in Washington, DC

Terry and Kim met at a restaurant in 1991 and married two years later. They worked together for most of their three-decade relationship and are the current owners of the NFL team Buffalo Bills and the NHL team Buffalo Sabres.

In February 2023, Jessica wrote an essay for The Players’ Tribune in which she opened up about her mother going into cardiac arrest in June 2022. She explained that her family was going through the unknown while Kim was recovering, but there was still uncertainty about her health and the company at the time.

Here’s everything you need to know about Jessica Pegula’s parents, Terry and Kim Pegula.

Kim was born in South Korea

Terry and Kim Pegula watch as Hall of Famer Bruce Smith receives his award during the game between the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets on September 15, 2016.

Brett Carlsen/Getty

Kim was born in Seoul, South Korea and raised in Fairport, NY, after being adopted at age 5 by her Canadian-born parents, Ralph and Marilyn Kerr, according to Democrat and Chronicle.

Newspapers reported that Kim was dropped off near a police station and spent time at an orphanage. Her dad and mom received an invitation for her on Christmas Eve 1974, and on New Year’s Eve, Kim met her parents and two brothers at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.

Although she doesn’t remember her early childhood, she can’t deny the impact the move had on her life. “They were obviously the biggest influence in my life,” Kim said, referring to her parents in a 2016 interview published on NFL.com. “Consider the destiny in life … that I was the one who lived this dream.”

Jessica shared how she continues to learn about her heritage. After winning the 2023 Hana Bank Korea Open in Seoul, the tennis player posted a series of photos with her trophy and shared a heartfelt message about what the achievement means to her.

“This one is extra special,” she wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “I’m half Korean. I don’t speak and I’m still learning about my culture… but I was overwhelmed by the support of the Korean fans.”

Jessica continued, “My mom visited her orphanage here when I played this event 4 years ago. It was the first time she felt open about learning about her past.”

Terry and Kim met in a restaurant in 1991

Buffalo Bills owners Kim and Terry Pegula honor the family of Buffalo Bills offensive lineman Bob Kalsu before a game on November 27, 2016.

Brett Carlsen/Getty

When Kim met Terry in 1991, she had recently graduated from Houghton College with a degree in communications and wanted to pursue a career in broadcast journalism.

According to her NFL.com interview, the then-21-year-old Kim was planning a trip to Alaska to work at a fishing camp and decided to apply for a waitressing job in upstate New York to raise funds for the trip.

While filling out the paperwork, Kim started talking to Terry who was eating at the restaurant. At the time, he was a 39-year-old divorced father of two. The entrepreneur gave her his business card and later offered her a job at East Resources, his oil and gas exploration and production company.

The rest is history, she told NFL.com. Terry and Kim will marry in 1993.

Terry is a sole proprietor

Terry and Kim Pegula of the Buffalo Sabers attend the 2019 NHL Draft on June 21, 2019 in Vancouver, Canada.

Bruce Bennett/Getty

Terry was born in Carbondale, Pa., and attended Penn State University, where he majored in petroleum and natural gas engineering, graduating in 1973, according to a profile of his alma mater.

His first job after college was at the Getty Oil Co. in Texas, to eventually take a job as an engineer at Felmont Oil Co. In 1975, his new position moved him to Olean, NY, near where he would one day meet Kim.

Eight years later he founded East Resources Inc. after borrowing $7,500 from family and friends. By 2010, Terry had sold most of his assets to Royal Dutch Shell for $4.7 billion per Forbes.

They share three children together

Jessica Pegula with her mom Kim Pegula.

Jessica Pegula/Instagram

During their marriage, Terry and Kim welcomed three children together: Jessica, Kelly and Matthew.

In addition to her tennis career, Jessica has partnered with her husband Taylor Gahagen in several ventures. She launched skincare brand Ready 24 in 2018, where he is vice president, and they also founded A Lending Paw, a charity that trains rescue dogs to become service animals.

While juggling the beauty and pet business, Jessica also worked with her sister Kelly to open several health-focused cafes called The Healthy Scratch in 2016, though the latter two locations closed in 2022.

Who is Jessica Pegula’s husband? All about Taylor Gahagen

Meanwhile, Matthew seems to be the most private of Terry and Kim’s children together.

Terry also has two children, Laura and Michael, from a previous marriage. Laura played tennis at the University of Pittsburgh and Terry “offered her a small percentage” of the Buffalo Bills team in May 2024. The Athletic. The decision was reportedly made in response to Kim’s ongoing recovery, during which her responsibilities as president have ceased.

They co-own the Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres

Terry Pegula and Kim Pegula at Ralph Wilson Stadium on October 12, 2014 in Orchard Park, New York.

Brett Carlsen/Getty

After selling their East Resources assets, Terry and Kim turned to sports: They started by giving $102 million to build Penn State’s Pegula Ice Arena in 2010, then bought the NHL’s Buffalo Sabers the following year.

In 2014, Terry and Kim took over as co-owners of the Buffalo Bills NFL team. “Owning any professional team is about winning and the primary goal of our ownership will be to win the Super Bowl and bring a championship to the city of Buffalo,” he said at a news conference.

In addition, the two own National Lacrosse League teams, the Buffalo Bandits and the Rochester Knighthawks. They also run the Rochester Americans hockey team.

Most recently, in August 2023, the Associated Press reported that Terry dissolved their company, Pegula Sports and Entertainment, and named himself president of the Bills and Sabres.

“We are grateful for the work and effort many individuals have put into PSE over the years, but we feel the time is right for them to return home to separate organizations,” he said in a statement, referring to the Bills and Sabers operations. “We believe now is the right time to disband PSE and allow everyone to focus solely on their organization.”

Kim continues to recover from cardiac arrest

In Jessica’s essay for The Players’ Tribune, she detailed how her family dealt with her mother’s cardiac arrest in June 2022.

According to the professional tennis player, Kim experienced a medical emergency while she was sleeping, and Terry tried to help her. Jessica’s sister Kelly, who had slept through the night, performed CPR on her, and paramedics were able to restore her heartbeat.

Jessica said that her family “actually lived in that hospital for two weeks” after that, and her dad didn’t want to leave her mom’s side.

“Today, my mom is still recovering and although the answer is the same every time someone asks me, the truth is, she is getting better every day,” she wrote, giving an update on her mom’s condition in February 2023. “She is dealing with significant expressive aphasia and significant memory problems. He can read, write and understand quite well, but he has trouble finding the words to answer.”

In November 2022, a few months after her mother’s cardiac arrest, Jessica won her first WTA 1000 title in Guadalajara, Mexico, dedicating the win to her mom.

“I wanted her to know that even after six horrible months, I still fought every day because of her,” she wrote in the essay. “If she could fight through what she was going through, so could I. She cried during my speech and the trophy ceremony… My mom deserved to see me lift the trophy after everything she’s been through.”

Since then, Kim has made occasional appearances, including attending a practice at the Bills’ June 2022 training camp.

They get nervous watching Jessica play tennis

Jessica Pegula during day two of The Championships Wimbledon 2024 on July 2, 2024 in London, England.

Rob Newell – CameraSport/Getty

According to Jessica, Terry and Kim avoid watching her matches in person because of nerves.

“He just tells me ‘good job,'” Pegula said at a September 2022 US Open press conference. New York Post. “He likes to give his little recap of the game or what the opponent did. They might enjoy watching it at home.”

In her February 2023 essay for The Players’ Tribune, Jessica mentioned that her mom had started watching more of her games. She had never watched my games before because she got too nervous, she wrote. “Now everyone is watching them.”

She also mentioned how her parents influenced her career. “My parents helped me realize this dream I’m living,” Jessica wrote. “Even though we didn’t always agree, they pushed me and I pushed back, and that got me to where I am today.”

In an interview from September 2021 at Bills Pod Squad podcast, Jessica shared more details about her relationship with her parents and how they helped her.

“Dad and I are like oil and water on the tennis court – we don’t mix well,” she said. “But he definitely always pushed me to be better. Working hard, you can always outsmart someone, all that stuff. He’s very old school.”

Speaking about her mum Kim, Jessica added: “You’ve been out more, get well. Like diet, recovery [and] training.”

They split their time between New York and Florida

Jessica Pegula with her dad Terry Pegula.

Jessica Pegula/Instagram

“One of the big talking points we always have is, ‘Where are we going to be, Florida or New York, this week?’ “, said Terry in the episode Bills Pod Squad in January 2022.

When not in Buffalo cheering on their sports teams, Terry and Kim spend most of their time at their home in Boca Raton, Florida.

The couple purchased the eight-bedroom, nine-bathroom home for $6.5 million in 2010, according to The Real Deal. Their 12-acre property features a 14,000-square-foot home, a 10-car garage, and a 40,000-gallon heated outdoor pool.

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