Some father-daughter duos can be pretty similar. Perhaps they share interests, hobbies, or even quirks. For Dan Helwig and his daughter Amanda Helwig, both Springfield Township locals who were born in Abington Hospital, the similarities go a bit further. 

From being chair of their local planning commissions (Dan in Skippack and Amanda in Springfield Township), to each being president of the Springfield Township Rotary Club (STRC), to working together for Dan Helwig Realtors, this father-daughter duo has no shortage of parallel experiences in serving their community.

Springfield Township Rotary Club

The Rotary Club is a clear passion for both Dan and Amanda, who value the camaraderie it brings as well as the chance to serve. 

Dan was inducted as president of STRC in 1981. When his wife became pregnant with Amanda, she entered a Rotary club meeting to inform her husband. That was a different time, and a couple of men were so angry that a woman had entered the room that they walked out of the meeting. Dan made it a mark of his presidency to institute women being allowed to join the club, setting the path for Amanda to earn the position decades later in June of 2024.

Both Helwigs have no shortage of fond memories from their time as Rotarians. Dan recalls dressing up as Santa Claus and Barney at club events, celebrating the 300th anniversary of the township, placing flags along Bethlehem Pike, and working at a medical clinic in Belize for a few days. Amanda reminisces on the summer carnivals and looks ahead to current projects, including a $32,000 picnic pavilion donated by the club to Cisco Park. She is also working on building a kitchen and bakery at the Bright School in Rwanda, with more than $40,000 raised so far and the rest coming from a global grant from Rotary International.

“[It] is so important to connect with men and women who live and work in our community because it’s through that networking and fellowship that we’re going to continue to survive and thrive in our community,” Amanda said. 

The family business

Dan and Amanda Helwig, both Realtors, also run a family business, Dan Helwig Realtors. Dan, who opened his first office in Flourtown in 1976, has been an agent since 1969. Now a Realtor emeritus of the National Association of Realtors, he turns 79 in September but still works six days a week.

“It’s important to note that we’re still a family organization,” Dan says. “We still have a visible office…I think that’s one of the things that’s missing from the real estate industry today: the people-to-people interactions that we used to have so much of.”

Amanda, who got her real estate license in 2002, works alongside her father. As the company’s broker of record, though, she’s now her father’s boss. Now a board member at Tri-County Suburban Realtors, the largest board of Realtors in Pennsylvania, she’s once again following in the footsteps of Dan, who served as president of the Eastern Montgomery Board of Realtors.

A family tradition

Looking back on it now, both Dan and Amanda say it was apparent long ago that Amanda’s life choices would mirror her father’s. As a kid, Amanda always tagged along when her brother joined their dad on his volunteer obligations, such as planting bulbs at Morris Arboretum or attending rotary luncheons. Then, in high school, she was selected by the Collegeville Rotary Club to go to a youth leadership camp called Camp Neidig.

“It was very interesting for me to navigate those waters, being with other very forward-thinking, leadership-oriented people,” Amanda recalls. “Now our rotary club sends six kids every year to that same camp, and I’m a big advocate of that program because it made such a huge impression in my life.”

As for becoming a Realtor, Amanda was not planning on it. As a kid, she and her brother would follow her dad along to showings and listings. According to Amanda, the big appeal was that they got to have McDonald’s for lunch. 

Amanda, who went to Ursinus College for biology with a minor in art, planned to become a scientific illustrator. 

But she’d continued to work on and off for her dad as a weekend secretary throughout high school and college, so when a fellowship at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals (now Pfizer) ended due to the company’s stock plummeting from bad press, Dan suggested she get her real estate license for some part-time income.

And the rest, as they say, is history. 

And Amanda, being so active in the community, is continuing the family tradition and bringing her daughter  – who attends all meetings for Rotarians 40 and under – along. 

“It’s nice that I’m instilling the same values my father instilled in me for my daughter, so hopefully she’ll be a third-generation Rotarian,” Amanda says. “I am very passionate about Rotary and leaving the world a better place than I found it for my daughter.”

Dan says he keeps telling Amanda to slow down, but she doesn’t listen.

“She’s got an 8-year-old daughter, and I want her to see her before she gets to college,” Dan quips.

But she appreciates the advice – almost as much as she does the relationship. 

“My dad is my best friend,” she said.