All 12 siblings from this large Alberta family are still alive: eight men and four women ranging in age from 65 to 88
It may not be a world record, but it is a local Westlock area record to have all 12 children from the same family living and in their senior years.
In late July, the children of the late Russell and Jean Sterling gathered at the home farm near Westlock, Alta., now owned by Brent Sterling, for the annual family get-together.
Because they are now all age 65 and older, it was decided they should have family photos of the siblings. They gathered around a 1927 Model D John Deere tractor on steel, the same as one their father owned.
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Brent says he is working on restoring the family tractor and maybe next year, they would pose for another photo with it.
Based on information supplied by the family, members all live in the Westlock area or close to Edmonton, except for Harvey, who lives at Westbank, B.C.
The siblings and other family members get together at the family farm each summer for a family reunion.
“And we all get along,” Brent says.
When questioned how many children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren there are in the family, Keith wasn’t sure, but suggested it is more than 200.
Eighty-five years ago, in the spring of 1938, Russell and Jean Sterling, along with their two children, Aubrey and Vera, came to the farm, which had been owned by William M. Sterling.
The farm is located in the area known as Clover Valley. They had been living at Baptiste Lake, west of Athabasca, Alta., where Russell had been teaching school since 1931. The local school at Clover Valley was located near the farm, where many of the Sterling children later attended school.
This was the beginning of their farming days and another 10 children were added to the family over the next two decades, from 1938 to 1958.
In chronological order from oldest to youngest: Aubrey (Diane) — 1935 (88); Vera (Doug Brown) — 1937 (86); Keith (Gail) — 1938 (85); Harvey (Faye) — 1940 (83); Roy (Wendy) — 1942 (81); Betty (Harvey Brinton) — 1943 (80); Joan (Ken Pankonin) — 1945 (78); Charles — 1947 (76); Brent (Evelyn) — 1948 (75); Milton (Joyce) — 1952 (71); Bertha (Berni Kasbohm) — 1954 (69); and Ivan (Theresa) 1958 (65).
Keith calculated it to be a total of 937 years.
An internet search carried out by family members turned up no other family of 12 children, all living and in their senior years, in Alberta or Canada.
