Week 11: Large Family

     When you come from a family that has heavily German Catholic roots, there is a good chance you come from a big family. Maybe not quite as big as a Greek or Italian family, but probably following right behind. My dad's family is Catholic and we have German roots that came over to the US in the early 1800s. The average family size for the family going back was 8 (2 adults and 6 kids). Well, would you believe, my dad is the oldest of 9 children? And yes, they all are still living to this day. So let me introduce you to my Fuchs Family.
     My dad Dennis, Uncle Mike, Aunt Patty, Aunt Sandy, Uncle Kevin, Aunt Karen, Uncle Marty, Aunt Shelley, and finally Uncle Chris. By 1960, they had a full house! Or should I say, a full barn! Yes, you read that right. By the time Uncle Chris came along, they were living in a barn. It had two rooms: Upstairs and downstairs. Grandma did her best to make it a home for everyone. The barn has since fallen down, but Uncle Marty owned the property and has kept pieces of wood so he could create beautiful frames for all his siblings to hold photos of the barn.
     And just like with all families, add a little love, and it grows. All but two of the siblings are married, and then 7 out of the 9 couples had kids. But wait, there is more. Now those kids are having kids. OH dear me, it's like gremlins all over again! LoL just kidding. But here are the final totals:

Aunts, Uncles & Spouses: 16 

Children: 19 

Grand Children: 25 (and growing) 

Great Grand children: 3 (and growing) 

     As you can see, we have quite the crew. For the holidays, we have to rent out a hall, just to hold us all. Here are a few photos from the last get together. We are blessed to have all the Aunts & Uncles still living. Sadly, though, through the years, we have lost a few cousins. But they are still counted as part of the family. Here are some photos of our family.

The Original 9 on Easter in 1962

The Original 9 at Christmas in 2018

Aunts, Uncles & Spouses

Children & Grand Children

     For years we have gathered to celebrate many holidays from Christmases to Thanksgivings, even birthdays and graduations. We are so blessed to have the family we do have with us. We wouldn't be able to have these celebrations without the ancestors that came to St. Louis in 1830. In 1953, the Fuchs family got together for the first annual family reunion of the descendants of Frederich, Franz and Andreas Fuchs; the first of the Fuchs family to come from Bavaria. This photo below was published in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat in the September 1953 issue. It represents six generations of the Fuchs family, and as you can see we are still growing.