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There are many wonders of having lots of brothers and sisters. Through the years you’ve got a team to support you through thick and thin. For the D’Cruz family, the 12 siblings have had many, many years supporting each other, as Guinness World Records recognized on December 15.
The family of nine girls and three boys have notched up a combined age of 1,042 years and 315 days. Doreen, at 97, heads up the clan, born on September 3, 1923, while youngest sister, Eugenia, is only 75.
The siblings, who were all born to parents Michael and Cecilia D’Cruz, are still close even though they live far and wide. Yet there’s one thing that brings them together — their Catholic faith. One of the brothers, Fr. Michael, joined the priesthood where he served many parishes in Toronto, Canada, before his retirement.
While he still carries out certain priestly duties, his other siblings are also busy as extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion and volunteering for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, according to the Catholic Register. And throughout their long lives, the siblings have passed down their strong faith to the younger generations in the family.
Now, at their grand old ages — Doreen (September 3, 1923), Patrick (September 30, 1925), Genevieve (July 4, 1927), Joyce (March 2, 1929), Ronnie (August 24, 1930), Beryl (August 26, 1932), Joe (June 1, 1934), Francesca (September 17, 1936), Althea (July 27, 1938), Teresa (June 9, 1940), Rosemarie (March 30, 1943), and Eugenia (October 24, 1945) — they consider this new record “as one of the great highlights of their lives,” according to a release from Guinness World Records.
If you’re interested in discovering more about large families, here are some historic giants who also happened to have a large number of siblings:
Read more:
9 Historic giants who came from large families
And today we celebrate...