Some families can get pretty big. But I doubt youโll find a family bigger than this one from Illinois.
This family has so many grandkids that the picture frames can barely fit on their walls!
Meet Leo and Ruth Zanger of Illinois, whoโve been married for 66 years and have 100 grandkids.
Yes, 100 grandkids. Thatโs a lot of kids to keep track of, and I donโt blame you for doing a double-take at that header.
Their 100th grandchild was born in 2015, after years of anticipation.
When they realized the number of grandkids they had was 99, it became a bit of a race to see which of their kids would birth number 99.
Technically, not all of the kids are โGrandchildrenโ properly. Some of them are great-grandchildren. But when youโre around long enough to have this many, the distinction doesnโt matter as much.
Baby number 100โs name is Jaxton Leo Zanger. Heโs the 46th great-grandchild.
It really begs the question of whoโs keeping count.
In fact, if I was one of the grandparents, I might end up forgetting peopleโs names.
At least my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren canโt blame me for that.
I mean, how many people do you know have 53 grandchildren alone?
But wait, 53 grandchildren and 46 great-grandchildren only make 99. That other one? Thatโs a great, great-grandchild. Yeah, it keeps getting crazier, doesnโt it?
It started when Leo and Ruth had 12 children of their own.
Already, thatโs more than most people ever plan on having. But I suppose they wanted a big family.
27 years separated their eldest child from the youngest.
Their eldest child, whoโs now over 60, already had kids of his own before his youngest sibling was born. So the youngest sibling was born an uncle already.
Crazy how that works, huh?
Needless to say, family gatherings are one heck of an occasion.
For most gatherings, they have to rent out a church building because itโs the only thing that can fit all of them.
โWhen we get together, itโs big. Itโs really big.โ โ said Donna Lane, one of Leo and Ruthโs daughters
At least with this large of a family, having everyone chip in isnโt an issue.
Thereโll hardly be a boring or empty dinner night for the Zangers.
โThere are a lot of people โ a lot of kids โ but thatโs what itโs all about. We always have a really good time.โ โ she continued
Itโd be pretty hard to get everyone to attend if they lived in different states. Thankfully, most of the family lives in Illinois. Could you imagine having hundreds of relatives in different states and trying to invite them all to dinner?
Leo acknowledges that their family probably isnโt stopping at 100.
โI expect there will be more. It wouldnโt surprise me any because there are a lot of young families there yet that are just getting started.โ
He jokes that their family โcould start their own town.โ
I donโt doubt him one bit.
Well, that future child is in for a big surprise whenever theyโre born.
In the meantime, birthdays, Christmas, Thanksgivings, and New Yearโs are never dull for the Zangers.
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Source: TODAY, Global News, Zanger Family of Quincy, Illinois on Facebook,
