About

In 1981 in Defiance, Ohio my father, Bob, owner of a concrete contracting and excavating business, saw an opportunity to create a swimming pool business in Northwest Ohio. My mother, Pam, thought he was nuts. She said, ‘who will want a pool in Northwest Ohio?’ My Dad and his unquenchable entrepreneurial spirit decided to go for it. In that year, Defiance Water Recreation came to be and opened its doors, offering pool building and a small retail operation.

Mom, while first reluctant, decided she wouldn’t snuff out Dad’s vision, so she joined in and worked in their humble showroom. Dad and Mom went to pool and spa industry events around the country, got educated on water chemistry, and made it a priority to provide their customers with educated advice and quality products for their pools and spas.

As soon as he was able to jump in the truck, my brother, Shelby, came to work with Dad on Saturdays. As Shelby grew up, he worked for Dad in the summers building pools since he was 14. Shelby, now President of the company, runs the in ground pool construction. He is a perfectionist and loves to install the best quality pools.

I came back to work for the company when Mom and Dad wanted to sell the business to Shelby and I. Now I’m Vice President/ Pool Chick and my husband, Kirk, runs our retail operation. We actually share an office and don’t hate it!

Funwater came about when we saw an opportunity to utilize our catchy name for an online pool store. We have had nearly 30 years experience in the industry, strong relationships with our suppliers, and a vision of a spunkier, more fun online pool store. In July 2010 we launched Funwater.com to offer solutions and products to customers both near and far.

Pool Chick, Stephani