Remsen woman great-grandmother to 100

By RENEE WEBB, Globe editor
Nov. 8, 2007

REMSEN - Valeria Schroeder gently holds her sleeping great-grandson as she chats with two of her daughters.

Like most grandmothers, 88-year-old Valeria loves to receive visits from her family, especially the little ones.

Given that she now has 100 great-grandchildren, she usually gets plenty of visits.

Valeria and her husband, the late Dominic Schroeder, had 13 children. While families years ago were larger, she acknowledged that 13 children is big by most standards.

"We were always looking forward to having that many," said the parishioner of St. Mary Church in Remsen.

There are 51 grandchildren and her 100th great-grandchild - Blake Allen Barinsky - was born on Aug. 2. Blake is the son of Jill and Brian Barinsky of Marcus.

"I just love them, they are all so cute and cuddly," said Valeria. "They are all wanted and loved."

By spring there will be 101 great-grandchildren. A couple of the great- grandchildren have completed college, but so far none are married.

"We still have Christmas at the house," she noted. "Over 100 come."

And what about shopping for that crew? She said she just gives money.

Valeria believes herself blessed as all of her children live within 16 miles of her. Two of her children are deceased - one died as an infant and another died in a car accident.

Her daughter, Marlene Harpenau, said the sisters and one sister-in-law get together once a month. Marlene has eight children of her own and 28 grandchildren.

Over the years, faith helped the family as they went through tough times such as when Richard was killed in the car accident at age 21. Valeria also had two grandchildren who died and one great grandchild.

"We always knew that faith was important to our parents and they were good examples for us, in regards to our faith," said Marlene. "It was always a part of our lives."

Diane Vaske, the grandmother of the newest great-grandchild, said it was an honor to have that 100th one.

She loves the holidays because often that is the only time she sees all of the other children.

"There's always someone to visit with," said Diane.

Growing up, she remembered that every spring they put up a May altar in the hallway with crepe paper, streamers and flowers in front of Mary's statue.

All of the Schroeder children attended Catholic school and Valeria pointed out that at one time 10 of the children were there together.

Marlene said she remembers that they went to church as a family and prayed the rosary every night during the Lenten season.

"And it didn't hurt a bit," quipped Valeria.

Given the large family, she said every Saturday she would curl the girls' hair and polish all of the shoes in preparation for Mass the next day.

"We always made it to church on time - in fact, my husband was always early," said Valeria.

They also recalled that at Easter time, they would go to Sioux City to buy hats at Sybil's because the store offered a special: Buy 12 hats, get one free.

Years ago, outside of St. Mary's on the church steps, they took a photo with another large family from Remsen - the Kleins.

"After all these years, we will now have three of the granddaughters marrying Klein boys," noted Marlene.

Others in the family also like the community aspect of such a large group.

Great-granddaughter Amanda Roder, a senior at St. Mary's in Remsen, said it's cool that there are so many cousins.

"Everyone is so happy when we get together," she said. "It's always a lot of fun, but it's sometimes hard to keep everyone straight."

Her sister, Emily Roder, a sophomore at St. Mary's, said she always feels as though there is someone she can go to because it is such a big family.

Their aunt, Jolynn Lewis, is a grandchild of Valeria.

Coming from such a big family "is like the best thing in the world because you always know someone and there is someone you can always depend and rely on when you need something."

In addition to Marlene and Diane, other siblings include Robert Schroeder, Janice Wurth, Judy Pottebaum, Linda Schroeder, Nancy Tentinger, Pam Poeches, Joyce Ruden, Peggy Arens and Suzanne Steichen.