Illinois Couple Just Welcomed Their Record-Breaking Grandchildren Into The World

Ruth and Leo Zanger are far from your ordinary grandparents. Sure, they shower everyone in the family with love, but the little guy they’re holding in this photo, Jaxton, is a milestone grandchild. Few families can boast numbers like the Zangers.

Their incredible story started in the 50s, when they met on a blind date, with no clue as to the immense family they’d eventually produce. They married just a couple years later and settled down to have children.

They chose the quaint city of Quincy, Illinois, to begin what would turn out to be one of the most epic families of all time. They gave birth to their first daughter, Linda, the same year they were married. Many more children were to come.

After about 30 years, they had their last child in 1984. By then, they had a total of 12 kids — nine sons and three daughters — running around their home. This made for some wild age gaps between everyone.

The age gap between Leo and Ruth’s youngest son, Joe, and Linda was so big that, when the family baby was born, he already had 10 nieces and nephews older than him!

As the couple’s 12 children grew, several of them went into the family business, a realty company called Zanger & Associates, Inc., to earn a living and alleviate the cost of their parents supporting 12 kids.

The whopping load of grandchildren started in 1975, with the arrival of a granddaughter. More grandkids came soon after, and they, too, had families once they were of age. The number of Zanger relatives began skyrocketing.

It was in 2015 that the Zanger grandchildren finally hit an incredible milestone: number 100. Boy, what a shock it was to everyone. No one was even aware of the grandchild totals until Ruth and Leo’s daughter Donna stepped in.

Donna had nominated herself to keep the family documents in order, including births, deaths, and marriages. It was while combing through the forms that Donna realized little Jaxton Leo Zanger was number 100! He also marked another achievement.

Once Jaxton arrived, Leo and Ruth had grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and even great-great-grandchildren — something most people never get to experience. In total, the lucky couple had 53 grandchildren, 46 great-children, and one great-grand-child. Whew!

You can imagine the shock on the faces of parents Austin (Ruth and Leo’s grandchild) and his wife, Ashleigh, when they found out their son was baby number 100. Incredibly, he was almost baby 101.

See, there was another child who was expected around the same time as Jaxton, which led to an incredible baby race between the families. Jaxton, however, proudly nabbed the title. Thankfully, the family could celebrate the occasion… with some help.

To throw a party, they turn to record keeper Donna, who has another vital job within the family: She’s responsible for gathering phone numbers, emails, and addresses for everyone. For the rest of us, keeping this info is easy, but for 100 people, it’s nearly impossible.

Even though Donna might hold the key to much of the important Zanger information, Leo and Ruth frequently share their own special stories about early life in the household, like when Donna was born amidst a brutal 1962 blizzard!

For the Zanger’s epic family gatherings, Donna, naturally, is the go-to person whenever they occur. She blasts off the mass texts to everyone giving them the vital “where?” and “when?”

Most of the Zangers still live in Quincy, which means much the family is able to attend all the family events. Because of their size, they rent out catering halls to fit everyone comfortably.

And, the Zangers have a rotating schedule on who brings what to the events. When you’re dealing with 100 people, you need a strict regimen or things can go haywire really fast. Don’t even get ’em started on the family holiday card!

Here’s the massive greeting card all the friends of the family receive every year! It’s constantly updated so each new member of the family is able to give a warm Zanger “Hello!” every time arrive.

The Zangers enjoyed some time in the spotlight after the milestone, but they were glad to see TV cameras going.