KENT CITY, Mich. — The COVID-19 pandemic has kept families and friends from gathering as much as they'd like, and that's just one of the reasons why a reunion this week was so special for 16 siblings originally from Kent City, whose ages range from 65 to 91.
13 ON YOUR SIDE first met the Anderson family back in 2019 when they held a reunion at their family farm. No one knew at the time that celebration would be the last time they'd all get together for almost two years.
"Even without the pandemic, it’s hard to get 16 people, particularly some with advanced ages, to be available on any particular day. So the fact that everybody’s together today is really special," said Gary Anderson, the 11th born sibling, on Wednesday.
The reunion was at the Stoney Ridge Vineyards and Winery, which opened in 2020 during the midst of the pandemic. The venue overlooks the family farm.
"This space is certainly one that was important when we grew up because we always looked up the hill," Gary said.
"It really gives a splendid view of the family farm and the family farm has a special meaning because most of us were born there and all of us were raised there."
The Andersons were also celebrating a Guinness World Record they learned they had achieved in March. They now hold the highest combined age for living siblings.
"It was initiated with me simply because I happened to see a CNN report that there was such a Guinness World Record for highest combined age of a family, and so the research started there," said Keith Anderson, the eighth born sibling.
From there, it was time to reach out.
"When Keith first found out that there was a possibility he emailed all of us and said do you think it’s worth the hassle? Are you interested in maybe trying for this? The response was that’s amazing and we should really go for it," said Dawn Churchill, the 10th born sibling.
Many of the Andersons give credit to Gary and his wife Diane, along with Keith, for the work they put into proving to Guinness that they were the rightful record holders.
"The process was quite involved because they wanted to make sure that we were real people, not charlatans. So we had to document with birth certificates," Gary said.
"We had to have marriage certificates and current identification for each person. We also had to provide evidence of all 16 people together over the years and we also collected media publications where in the text it was mentioned there were 16 children from Russell and Francis Anderson."
The Andersons worked hard on the farm as children. They carried that work ethic into their careers. It may be because of their toughness that they're all still around to achieve this record.
"It really is an incredible achievement when you think think about 16 children still intact as a family. I think it speaks somewhat to the resilience of my brothers and sisters and their ability to be here to celebrate this occasion," said Keith.
Another possible explanation for the Anderson longevity is the genes passed down to the children from their mother who lived to be nearly 103 years old.
"I wish she was here because she was always so proud of her big family and she would’ve loved this. Just loved it," said the 15th born sibling, Bonnie Butler.
"She worked hard all her life, raising 16 children on a farm. She was an amazing lady," said Churchill.
Even before the record attempt, the Anderson family took pride in preserving their history.
"Mother had all our graduation pictures up on the wall but Keith took all those pictures, put them in albums and every time we have a big get together he hauls out all those albums and we have to go through and look at all those pictures. I think family means a lot to all of us," said the third born sibling, Joyce Lewis.
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