Dutch Stolte siblings grew up on farms in Alberta and B.C.
George and Gaye Stolte had 10 children. Nine were girls, and the eight who are still alive got together at the Seasons in the Park restaurant last Saturday to celebrate the 90th birthday of the eldest, Alyce.
“We didn’t really rehash a lot of family things, we just had a good time making jokes and laughing together,” said the second oldest sister, Jennie, who turns 88 this Saturday. “Enjoying each other’s company.”
The youngest sibling, 72-year-old Elizabeth, came in from her home in Amsterdam for the event. Jenny came in from Long Beach, Calif., where she lives with her daughter and her family.
The remaining six live in Vancouver, Victoria and Lynden, Wash., and get together all the time.
“We’re very close,” said Jennie. “We’re each other’s best friends. I don’t get together that often now, I’m in California. But we have a sisters’ app on our phone and send each other a lot of pictures, and do a lot of conversing.”
Large families can have issues.
“In all large families the dynamics are different,” said Andrea, 79, the seventh sibling. “Generally there’s a split between males and females.”
But there’s no split in the Stoltes. There was only one son, Hank, so when the Stoltes grew up on farms in Blackfalds, Alta., and Matsqui, the girls learned to do all the chores.
“The fact we didn’t have males in the family meant our family dynamics are way different, and stayed different,” Andrea reasons. “I was lucky. I grew up with a bunch of strong women who understood the power of women, long before it became a catchword. Everything that needed doing was done by us who were there.”
Still, nine girls in one family is a lot.
“I remember my dad, much later, saying, ‘Oh, if I would I have known I would have had nine daughters … ,’ ” said Jennie. “I said, ‘Dad, you would have practised birth control.’ But obviously they didn’t.”
The Stolte family originally hailed from Ommen, in the Netherlands, where Jennie and Alyce were born. But the family emigrated to Alberta in 1939, just before the Second World War.
“We were very fortunate we got out then,” said Jennie. “It was an occupied country (during the war).”
In Canada, the family grew, and grew. Jennie can recite everyone’s name, and age.
In order, they are: Alyce, 90; Jennie, 88, Dec. 7; Hank, who died at 74; Gayle, 84; Rikki, 82; Helen, 80; Andrea, 79; Marie-Grace, 78; Arlene, who died at 68; and Elizabeth, 72.
Does she know the secret to everyone getting along?
“Hmmm,” Jennie said. “I guess, ‘Don’t sweat the small stuff, just enjoy what you can. Don’t get too concerned about things you can do nothing about. Try to concentrate on the positive.’ ”
Asked why everyone’s aged so well, she said: “It must be good genes. Our mother died when she was very young (56), but my dad lived to be 96.”
Andrea said the sisters all keep active, which keeps them sharp.
“We like to read, we like to learn, we like to be active,” she said. “We like to travel. That’s probably the things that are important.”
In case you were wondering, none of the Stolte girls wound up having large families themselves.
“All 10 of us had a total of 11 children,” said Jennie. “On average, 1.1 each. I always said a psychiatrist would have great fun with that, when we came from a family of 10.”