The Kesters of Clearwater

Lucille Kester looks at a picture of she and her late husband, Harold. Lucille and Harold were married on June 18, 1949, and raised 11 children together. Harold and Lucille lost their youngest, Joe, to cancer when he was 9 years old.

They watched as their 10 surviving children raised 45 grandchildren. When Harold passed in 2005, they had 11 great grandchildren.

“He was absolutely no braggart, but he did everything real well,” Lucille said, her voice breaking.

“But the biggest thing I think was his honesty,” she continued. “He said what he thought and sometimes he got in trouble for it.”

Lucille paused for a bit, her hand over her lips, her eyes watering.

“Because of him I know our boys would never cheat anybody,” she said, reaching for a tissue in her pocket.

“I seem to be crying over everything,” she added with a chuckle.

The entire Kester family during their 2017 family reunion. Lucille, her 10 children, 45 grandchildren and - at the time - 101 great grandchildren. When the whole family gathers they make up more than 220 people, making their family larger than 44% of Nebraska's cities and towns.

Lucille walks to the end of her driveway in Clearwater, NE. Her son John lives to her left, son Tom lives to the right.

The mailbox at the end of Lucille's driveway in Clearwater, NE.

A collection of photographs from Harold and Lucille's life together.

A sign on the entrance of the home of Bob and Rita Kester.

Lucille rocks her 100th great grandchild, Kinley Roemmich, in the same bassinet she was rocked in as a baby, an heirloom that has been in the family for more than 100 years.

Lucille bakes her famous buns for the family.

“We didn't eat until we were full, we ate until it was gone,” said Bill Kester.

“She got up before everyone and butchered chickens for dinner,” her son John added.

Cooking for 13 people everyday is a tall task for most of us, but Lucille brushes it off as simply the way it was.

She'd fry four or five chickens for dinner, bake bread, cook beans.

“We could often smell warm bread baking or chocolate chip cookies,” Lucille's daughter Jennifer said. “We always enjoyed a snack after school.”

Lucille with her 10 surviving children - the youngest, Joe, died of cancer when he was 9 - and their spouses at a 2017 family reunion.

Cousins and business partners, Smoke (left) and Paul (right) Kester. They were born 48 minutes apart on the same day as their Uncle Bill.

The Kester family gathers in a cow pasture near the Elkhorn River for a family picnic. Picnics like these aren't planned in advance. They usually begin with one person calling another and suggesting a get together. One family brings chicken, another deviled eggs, another beans, and so on.

“It's a chance to get together,” says Tammy Kester Bearinger, Lucille's 3rd grandchild. “The kids will swim or fish in the river, we'll start a bonfire and enjoy this land together.”

Tammy says the picnics happen suddenly. If one person suggests one, everyone pitches in with food, tables and chairs.

Bob Kester walks out to the river from a family picnic carrying a fishing pole.

A group of Lucille's great grandchildren swim in the river together after a family picnic.

“We were lucky enough to grow up on the river,” said John Kester, Lucille's 7th child, a sentiment shared by every family member.

The family owns land on each side of the river, giving the family a natural entertainment center; a place to swim in the summer, camp in the fall and gather year round.

Family gathered for fishing, swimming and s'mores after a family picnic on the Elkhorn River.

Cousins Leah and Trigg run towards a group of cows in the pasture during a family picnic.

Gabriel Kester by the Elkhorn River after a family picnic.

Wyatt Koinzan, a twin and one of Lucille's 105 (and counting) great grandchildren.

Dana Kester carries his son Trigg on his back through the weeds by the river. The two went fishing together after a family picnic.

Koryn and Lucille Koinzan, a granddaughter and great granddaughter of Lucille's.

Cousins (from left) Austin Roth, Cashten Kester, Lynae Koinzan, Alec Kester, Lucille Koinzan and Wyatt Koinzan play tag atop hay bales on the family farm.

Cousins Gabriel “Gabe” and Leah Kester examine a frog Gabe found by the river.

A few of the Kester great grandchildren watch the sun set over the Elkhorn River after a family picnic.

Dana Kester, Lucille's grandson, at his feed store in downtown Clearwater.

Grandson Timmy Kester pitches a practice ball to great granddaughter Cassidy Bearinger before a softball game.

Katelyn Kester at a softball game in Albion, Nebraska.

Emorie Bearinger (left) leaves softball practice hand-in-hand with a friend. Her older sister, Cassidy (number 14, right) walks with them.

Bob Kester drives an old tractor up a dirt road. Bob is “retired” but still manages to work everyday.

“I don't like being cooped up and stuff,” Bob said. “No matter what the weather is I'd rather be outside and working.”

Cousins Alvie Bearinger (left) and Hank Johnsen (right) climb a fence at their Great Uncle Tom's house, overlooking the Kester homestead.

Lucille comforts her 100th great grandchild, Kinley Roemmich, at lunch at the Clearwater Cafe.

The Kester family walks through Neligh, NE, during a family reunion over Memorial Day Weekend. When the entire family gets together, more than 200 people gather together, making their family larger than half the cities in Nebraska.

Lucille Kester smiles for the camera surrounded by her 45 grandchildren at the Kester family reunion on Memorial Day.

“When Grandma says pay attention, we all still do,” said Danielle Johnsen (pictured here in the bottom row wearing a yellow top) with a laugh.

Matilda Kester approaches her great grandmother, Lucille, at a family reunion over Memorial Day weekend 2017.

Harold and Lucille's headstone on land that Lucille's parents, John and Josephine Thiele, donated to the Catholic church.

Daley Bearinger sits on the cemetery fence. The land behind him was farmed by his great, great grandparents.

Family, faith, friendship, fortitude. Combine all of those things and mix in some good, solid hard work, and you have the Kester family of Clearwater, NE. They define all these traits, and Nebraska itself.

Lucille and Harold Kester started their life together over 70 years ago. Neither suspected the history they would create.

Their family tree reads like a chapter of Genesis. Together they raised 11 children, who then raised 45 grandchildren, who are now raising over 105 great grandchildren, and counting.

Brothers farm together.

Cousins and uncles share birthdays.

In the town of Clearwater, NE - where the Kesters are from - various members of the family contribute to different parts of town life.

Downtown Clearwater, NE, as seen from above.

Son Bill is senior vice president of the local bank.

Grandson Dana owns the feed store.

Granddaughter Tammy and her husband Jarod are local accountants.

The brothers helped build each others' houses.

Their father Harold was instrumental in raising funds to build the church they and their extended family attend every Sunday.

There are nurses and mechanics; teachers and students; farmers and housewives.

When the Kesters have a reunion - as they do every spring - their family is larger than 44% of the cities and towns in the state of Nebraska.

For as large as the family is, they are amazingly close. They, of course, have their fights and disagreements from time to time - as all families do - but at the end of each day, family and faith reign supreme.

The Kesters of Clearwater

Video: Lucille Kester, Matriarch