For Alaska clan of 14, family life a blessing and a challenge

Published: 2007-08-21

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (CNS) -- With 11 siblings, family life is both a blessing and a challenge, said 17-year-old Timothy Lochner as he prepared for a recent Anchorage bike trip with members of his 14-person clan. The outgoing Lochners acknowledge that their family size is outside the norm but say they wouldn't have it any other way. "In a family with two (children), you have to get along with those two. The more people you have, the more you get to interact with," said 15-year-old Sarah Lochner. As newlyweds, George and Sue Lochner talked seriously about having a large family. "We jokingly said six, but not more than 12," George said. Over the years, that conversation proved prophetic as the couple raised five girls and seven boys, now ranging in age from 4 to 26. "Large families are countercultural," George Lochner said. "Back in earlier generations, families with 12 or 13 children were fairly common."

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