Growing up one of 20!

Ten of 20 siblings recount their bustling childhood

By Julie Parent

Maurine Mongeau met the love of her life, Francis Bleess, at a church in Blue Earth, Minn. Her father thought she was too young to get married. After finishing high school, he sent Maurine to a relative’s home in the state of New York where she lived and enrolled in secretarial school. When Maurine returned, she and Francis got married.

Chuck Bleess, surrounded by nine of his siblings, holds a photo of his parents and their 20 children. Front row (from left to right): Charlotte Sczepanski, Chuck Bleess, Rita Walker, and Gina Motzko. Back row (from left to right): Mike Bleess, Jerry Bleess, Frani Carson, Pete Bleess, Rhonda Ottomoeller, and Ginger Brichacek. Siblings not in attendance: Pat, Ron, Rich, Joe, and Brian Bleess. Deceased siblings: Theresa Meyer, Connie Becker, Nick, Mike, and Lynn Bleess. Current photo by Julie Parent

Maurine’s daughter Frani Carson of St. Cloud said her mother believed you should have “as many kids as the good Lord gave you.” Frani was the 14th of 20 children that Maurine and Francis had between 1939 and 1962. Pete Bleess of Browerville, the 15th child, who has the number 15 tattooed on his arm, said he was “glad they didn’t stop after having 14!”

One year, Maurine gave birth to three children, because she had one of two sets of twin boys at the beginning of the year and a daughter at the end of the year. There were times she had four children in diapers. Since they did not have disposable diapers, they washed dirty cloth diapers every day.

Thirteen of the 15 siblings that are still alive live close to each other and meet at the Senior Citizens Center in Clarissa, Minn. for family gatherings. One of their sister-in-laws is amazed that they “all get along so well.” The boisterous group worked and played together. They lived in the Minnesota towns of Good Thunder, Blue Earth, and Long Prairie. One of the houses came with a piano. All the houses they grew up in had a telephone, running water, and one bathroom. In 1954, Rita Walker of Eagle Bend, child number nine, pretended to be sick so she could stay home when their first black and white television set arrived.

Francis was a farmer. He raised dairy cattle, pigs, and chickens and he grew corn, beans, oats, peas, wheat, and hay to sell and feed his own family. They also had pet dogs and cats. There was always work to do. Everyone pitched in and felt valued.

The siblings said their mother was a good cook. However, they voted Rita the best cook. They enjoyed the recipes she brought home from her home economics class at school, such as pizza and doughnuts. She said they would peel 10 pounds of potatoes for one meal. They toasted bread in the oven, because it would have taken longer to make in a toaster. For breakfast, they often ate oatmeal, at least one loaf of bread, and two dozen eggs. Rhonda Ottomoeller of Clarissa, child number 18, still has the metal pitcher their mother used to make oatmeal. They shelled all the peas they could carry, and they ate hot dishes. For kitchen safety, they used chairs as baby gates. As practicing Catholics, they prayed before eating every meal at a long table with highchairs.

When everyone was living at home, the wringer washing machine ran daily. Wet items hung on a clothesline to dry. The girls described matching socks and securing the pairs with a safety pin as a big chore.

Francis and Maurine Bleess’ wedding picture. Contributed photo.

The girls primarily helped with the work inside the house, like sweeping the floor multiple times a day. Rhonda said they “learned to pick up after themselves,” and their “house was cleaner than their friends’ houses.” Charlotte Sczepanski of Coon Rapids, child number two, said her father encouraged her to wash the dishes by saying, “If you want a chance to help, you better hurry up.” When their mother felt worn out, she would ask the older girls to watch the younger children so she could take a nap in her chair. Ten minutes later, she would open her eyes and say, “Thank you! I feel so refreshed!”

When it was time to go to church, half of the children went with their mother to one mass service, and the other half went with their father to another mass service after completing the outside chores. There were no seat belt laws, so they piled into the car and sat on each other’s laps. Chuck Bleess of Winona, child number three, said the back seat of their 1954 station wagon “was as big as an apartment.” 

Since they did not have enough money for everyone to have their own, they shared toothbrushes. The girls also shared nice hats. They did not have a shower. To conserve water, more than one child bathed in the same water before they drained and refilled the tub. Maurine cut everyone’s hair and sewed the girls’ dresses. They each had three or four outfits they kept in shared dressers. Chuck said he has “more clothes now than they all had” back then.

One of the things they enjoyed was sharing a room. Frani said she “didn’t want her own room.” When it was time to go to sleep, three boys slept in one bed.

Everyone fondly reminisced about how special they felt on their birthday. They each got to pick out the kind of cake they wanted. Their mother decorated their birthday cakes and their wedding cakes. On their birthday, the lights dimmed, they lit the candles on the cake, and the family sang. Everyone got one piece of cake and precisely one scoop of ice cream. They did not get gifts like other kids who they considered spoiled. They did not feel deprived, because they had everything they needed.

They did get a small amount of Christmas gifts. Before opening them, they knelt on the hard floor and said the Rosary which they recited every night, too.

Instead of going on vacation, they visited other family members. With 65 first cousins, there were enough people to play ball games. However, Pete admitted it was hard when he went back to school in the fall and heard what the other kids did over the summer break. While they went on exciting trips, his family stayed home and milked 42 cows with three milking machines like they did year-round.

The boys started feeding the chickens when they were five years old. As they grew, so did their responsibilities. They collected chicken eggs, fed calves, and baled hay. Chuck said when he was nine years old, he had to look through the steering wheel of the tractor he was driving, because “I couldn’t see over it.”

After milking, they played outside until it got dark. They would play in the barn, swing on the hay rope, and climb the silo. Jerry Bleess of Long Prairie, child number 13, could climb the highest. Gina Motzko of Clarissa, child number 10, said they played popular games like “Duck, Duck, Grey Duck and Annie Annie Over.” They would race homing pigeons by taking them three miles away and seeing which one would return first. Mark Bleess of Long Prairie, child number 11, said they made motor bikes, a go cart, a raft, and trapped gophers. Ginger Brichacek of Browerville, child number 19, said riding behind a Shetland pony in a cart they made “was the best.”

All 20 Bleess children lived with their parents on a farm in Blue Earth, Minn.  Contributed photo

In the evenings, their parents always had a knee for them to sit on, which their mother said was more important than the dust that accumulated in the house. They read frequently about a variety of subjects published in their set of big blue story books or encyclopedias.

Maurine and Francis had a great relationship. When Ginger and her fiancé went to premarital counseling, she told the priest her parents never argued. The priest did not believe her. He asked Maurine who confirmed they did not argue in front of the kids, and they settled their differences before they went to bed.

Surprisingly, Maurine’s last child was born after she had her first grandchild. The siblings all roared with laughter when they recalled their mother telling her oldest daughter she needed the baby clothes she had passed on to her back. Maurine’s youngest son was already an uncle before he was born.

When Charlotte had her first baby, she thought taking care of one child was going to be a snap, but she was in for a rude awakening. Charlotte told Maurine, “Being a mom is a lot different than being a big sis.”

Maurine loved her children dearly. When she took her first six children to a doctor in Mankato, Minn., someone asked if they were all hers. She replied, yes and said, “I wouldn’t mind having six more.” Charlotte said later when someone asked how she kept all her children’s names straight, Maurine answered with the question, “How hard is it to learn one or two names a year?” Frani, short for Francine, did not like her name until her mother told her it was a combination of her parents’ names.

All 20 children graduated from high school and went on to have their own careers. When asked what the best part was about being in a big family, they agreed it was not boring because they always had someone around to talk to or play with. When asked what the hardest part was, they replied leaving home.