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LaFontaine Center resident at head of large 5-generation tree

Janet Hunt Zimpelman (middle row, center) poses with some of the five-generation lines in her family.
Janet Hunt Zimpelman (middle row, center) poses with some of the five-generation lines in her family. Photo by Cindy Klepper.

Originally published Dec. 19, 2013.

Every once in a while, you'll see a photo of four adults gathered around a baby whose birth has completed five living generations in that family.

It used to be a rare occurrence; it's still unusual, but it's happening with more frequency as life expectancy increases for the oldest generations.

But few can say, as Janet Hunt Zimpelman can, that the family extends to the fifth generation 14 times.

"I enjoy them," she says. "I do enjoy them."

As a young woman living in northwest Indiana, Zimpelman had hopes for a large family of her own, but it was not to be.

"I wanted five children," she says from her apartment at the LaFontaine Center, in Huntington. "Two boys and two girls, and one to spoil. But that didn't happen."

She did have two sons, Curtis Hunt, who lives in Wheatfield, and Duane Hunt, a Huntington resident.

"For having two kids, I've done a pretty good job," Zimpelman says.

The family line is five generations long 14 times, with those 14 great-great-grandchildren traced back through nine of Zimpelman's 30 great-grandchildren, four of her nine grandchildren and her two sons.

Most of the family gathered in Huntington on Saturday, Dec. 14, for an early Christmas celebration, making the trip from around Indiana as well as Pennsylvania, Florida, Virginia, Kentucky and Mississippi.

Zimpelman herself hasn't been a Huntington resident very long; her life began in South Dakota almost 89 years ago. She became a Hoosier when she was just a toddler, but her stomping grounds were in northwest Indiana.

"My dad was tired of being a rancher," Zimpelman says, explaining the impetus for her family's move.

Her dad's uncle, a carpenter, lived in Crown Point, and the uncle told her dad he'd give him a job if the family moved there. Zimpelman says her dad and his uncle ended up building most of the houses in Glen Park, a neighborhood in Gary.

"I was glad they left South Dakota," she says. "That's a barren country in my book."

She got married and gave birth to her sons while living in Crown Point, then moved to Valparaiso in 1950.
"I was ready to move my kids out of town," she says.

She remained in northwest Indiana until her sons suggested she move to Huntington, Duane's hometown.

"Between the two of them, they decided I'd be better off here than over there where I was," she says.

The scattered family members normally get together sometime during the summer; the Christmas gathering was a special event, she says.

Curtis Hunt has four children, and Duane Hunt has five children. From there, the family exploded. When the first great-great-grandchild was born, Zimpelman says, "it was a big deal. Oh, of course."

Since then, 13 more great-great-grandchildren have come into the world.

"I don't care how many they have," Zimpelman says with a big smile. "I don't have to take care of them."

She says the members of the large family get along well.

"There's no fuss in this family," she says. "Some families, they always have a feud going. But my father always said, if you've got a disagreement, get together and work it out."

The nine separate lines including fifth-generation family members are:

• Great-great-grandchildren Liam Davis and Claire Davis; great-granddaughter Taylor Davis, of North Judson; granddaughter Carmen DeYoung, of DeMotte; son Curtis Hunt, of Wheatfield; and Zimpelman, the matriarch.

• Great-great-grandson Aiden Hunt; great-grandson Ethan Hunt, of Valparaiso; grandson Jeff Hunt, of Hobart; son Curtis Hunt; and Zimpelman.

• Great-great-grandchildren Elijah McGuire, Haley McGuire and Caleb Taylor; great-grandson Bradley Taylor, of Huntington; granddaughter Theresa Taylor, of Huntington; son Duane Hunt, of Huntington; and Zimpelman.

• Great-great-grandchildren Ariel Dockery and Nathanial Dockery; great-granddaughter Julia Dockery, of Duffield, VA; granddaughter Dawn Hunter, of Duffield, VA; son Duane Hunt; and Zimpelman.

• Great-great-grandson Carson James; great-grandson Cody James, of Louisville, KY; granddaughter Dawn Hunter, of Duffield, VA; son Duane Hunt; and Zimpelman.

• Great-great-grandchildren Natasha Bledsoe and Payton Berry; great-granddaughter Crystal Romine, of Kingsport, TN; granddaughter Dawn Hunter, of Duffield, VA; son Duane Hunt; and Zimpelman.

• Great-great-granddaughter Hailey Wallace; great-granddaughter Amanda Wallace, of Duffield, VA; granddaughter Dawn Hunter, of Duffield, VA; son Duane Hunt; and Zimpelman.

• Great-great-grandchild Bentlee Hunter; great-grandson Derek Hunter, of Louisville, KY; granddaughter Dawn Hunter, of Duffield, VA; son Duane Hunt; and Zimpelman.

• Great-great-grandson Marcus Thornsberry; great-granddaughter Trista Thornsberry, of Fort Wayne; granddaughter Alysia Thornsberry, of Huntington; son Duane Hunt; and Zimpelman.

Complete caption: Janet Hunt Zimpelman (middle row, center) poses with some of the five-generation lines in her family. They include (back row, from left) grandparents Jeff Hunt, of Hobart; Carmen DeYoung, of DeMotte, holding fifth generation member Liam Davis; Theresa Taylor, of Huntington; Dawn Hunter, of Duffield, VA; and Alysia Thornsberry, of Huntington; (middle row, from left) great-grandfather Curtis Hunt, of Wheatfield, holding Aiden Hunt,  a member of the fifth generation; Zimpelman, of Huntington, the great-great-grandmother; and great-grandfather Duane Hunt, of Huntington; and (front row, from left) mother Taylor Davis, of North Judson, holding Claire Davis, the newest member of the fifth generation; father Bradley Taylor, of Huntington, with his children, fifth generation members (from left) Elijah McGuire, Caleb Taylor and Haley McGuire; and mother Amanda Wallace, of Duffield, VA, with daughter and fifth generation member Hailey Wallace.