Fun Family Facts

Fun Family Facts

Did you know...?
The farthest distance between siblings is 1,188 miles (Joe & Sharon) as the crow flies.
The shortest distance between siblings is 8.5 miles (Dave & Dale) and the next closest pair is 9 miles (Donna & Margie) as the road goes.
Amongst the immediate family in Texas, Mom is the most centrally located, while Gary is the most centrally located sibling and Joe the most remotely located sibling.
Of the siblings, Gary lives the closest to Mom (22 miles), followed by Dale (29) and then Dave (33). Sharon lives the farthest.
Of the siblings, Joe lives in the smallest city (Lytle), followed by Sharon (Pine City).
Of the siblings, Gary lives in the largest city (Austin) followed by Donna & Margie (Round Rock).
Of the siblings, only Dave & Dale currently live in a "German" city.
Both Mike and Jeff previously, in their respective states, lived equidistant to a German town called New Ulm that conducts annual German festivals.
Of the siblings, only Jeff lives in a state other than Minnesota or Texas (Colorado).
Of the siblings, only Sharon lives in a rural area.
Four siblings (Mary Ann, Dennis, Mike, Sharon) live in Minnesota, and six siblings all live in Texas within 150 miles of each other.
Of the extended family, Dad, Mom, Donna, Margie, Dale, Josh, Katy, and Terry all have the same names as small Texas towns. For Margie and Terry there's even a small Texas town of Sharp only 40 miles from their home. Interestingly, there's a small town of Leonard in both Minnesota and Texas within 75 miles of their northern borders.
Emporia, KS is the best and most oft stop-over place for those siblings traveling from MN to TX. Cameron, MO is the best for those traveling from TX to MN. (lots of hotels, restaurants, & significantly past the halfway point).
Amazingly, Joe, Dave & Jeff all have a Dollar General store exactly 7 and a half tenths of a mile from their homes, while Dale works exactly 7 and a half tenths of a mile from one.
The siblings closest in age were just 347 days apart (Janet & Margie).
Presently, the closest in age are 370 days apart (Jeff & Dale) and next closest are 384 days apart (Mike & Sharon).
The siblings farthest apart in age are 6,251 days apart (Mary Ann & Gary).
Of the siblings, Dennis & Mike celebrate their birthdays closest together (1 day), followed by Jeff & Dale (4 days) and then Sharon & Gary (5 days).
Of the siblings, Joe's birthday is the most remote (Nov 18) since no sibling was born in Oct or Dec.
Four siblings were born between Aug 27 and Sep 15 (19 days) and four siblings were born between Jan 2 and Feb 4 (33 days).
Of the 14 in the immediate family, five were born on a Wednesday (Mom, Dave, Margie, Sharon, Jeff), four on a Sunday (Mary Ann, Joe, Dennis, Gary), three on a Tuesday (Dad, Donna, Dale), and only Mike on a Thursday and only Janet on a Saturday. Surprisingly, no births happened on a Monday or a Friday!
Sharon is the only sibling to be born in a different hospital than the rest of us. The first six children were born in Little Falls, the last six children were born in Milaca with the exception of Sharon who was born in Princeton.
Mom had a baby boy every leap year from 1956 to 1972. No girls were born during a leap year and of the boys only Dave & Dale were not. (Joe 1956, Dennis 1960, Mike 1964, Jeff 1968, and Gary 1972).
Of the siblings, Dennis was the lightest birth (7 lbs 3 oz) followed by Joe (7 lbs 4 oz).
Of the siblings, Gary was the heaviest birth (9 lbs 2 1/2 oz) followed by Janet (8 lbs 15 oz).
Of the siblings, Gary was the fastest birth (just over an hour).
Of the siblings, Mary Ann was the slowest birth (16 hrs) followed by Joe (14 hrs).
Donna is the only sister to have delivered a baby normally after having two c/sections. Janet & Sharon had three c/sections each and Margie had one normal birth (the first sister to do so).
Of the sisters, Margie had the shortest labor during childbirth, arriving at the hospital at approximately 7:15 a.m. and the time of Erik's birth was 11:03 a.m.
Of the sisters, Sharon had the longest labor during childbirth, being in pre-term labor with Chad for six weeks straight and in the hospital the whole time on IVs to lessen the contractions and ultimately held off birth those six weeks, but nonetheless, still had Chad 6-8 weeks early, being born at only 32 weeks gestation.
Of Mom's 17 grandchildren, Amber & Savannah share the same birthday (Mar 24) while Chad's (Mar 27) is three days later. With birthdays one day apart are Hannah (Aug 3) & Jeremy (Aug 4), and two days apart are Jakob (Jun 26) & Katy (Jun 28).
Of Mom's 16 grandchildren, Trey and Katy are the closest in age, being only 19 days apart.
In the same year (1989) Donna's 2nd child (Trevor) was born 10 days after Janet's birthday and Janet's 2nd child (Amber) was born 20 days after Donna's birthday. (Ironically if Trevor would have been a girl he would have been named Amber).
Donna is the only one in the family whose birthday is also a command ("March forth!").
Donna and Jeff are the only siblings to have two of the grandchildren in a row (Emily #4 & Trevor #5 and Jakob #16 & Sabrina #17).
The three youngest siblings (Dale, Gary, Jeff) are each the fathers of one of Mom's three youngest grandchildren (Zachary, Hannah, Jakob).
Jeff is the only sibling to become a first-time parent in his late thirties.
Donna is the only sister to have a baby in her thirties, being 36 when Katy was born and considered to be AMA (Advanced Maternal Age).
Of the grandchildren, Emily was the first to become a mother (Julian Alexander was born on Jan 17, 2007).
Of the siblings, Donna was the first to become a grandmother.
Of the siblings, Donna was the first to become a mother-in-law.
Donna is the only sibling to be in the direct lineage of four generations.
Donna is the only sibling ever to witness the birth of a grandchild.
Mom's last three grandchildren (Jakob, Sabrina, & Julian) were all born in the same hospital. Sabrina is the only grandchild to have had an aunt (Donna) for her nurse in the hospital.
Of the siblings, only Donna does not have a great nephew.
Donna's niece and grandson were born within six weeks of each other.
Of the extended family, Katy was the youngest aunt (12 yrs) and Gary was the youngest uncle (12 yrs).
Of the family and extended family, there have been no births in the month of October.
Joseph is the most common name in our family: Dad's middle name, Joe's first name, Gary's middle name, and Trevor's middle name.
Of the siblings, four are in the same chronological position on both the Voigt Grandchildren List and the Billmeyer Grandchildren List: Mary Ann (#3), Dennis (#14), Margie (#19) and Dale (#33).
The first half of the siblings and the second half of the siblings would've been an exact gender order match of "girl-boy-girl-boy-boy-girl" if and only if Gary would've been a girl like the sisters so desperately wanted. :)
Dad was on this earth for 25,431 days and Janet for 15,115 days.
Mom will be 27,000 days old on May 5, 2006, but Joe will be 20,000 days old Aug 22, 2011, while Jade will be 10,000 days old on Nov 26, 2013.
Just like Joe when he was the same age, Trey is developing a keen interest in astronomy, science, math and history.
Of the siblings, Joe has the most science knowledge.
Of the siblings, Joe is the most voracious reader.
Of the siblings, Joe has read the most Ray Bradbury short stories (hundreds), the horrifyingly shocking The October Game being his favorite. :)
Joe's favorite book is Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid.
Joe's, Dave's & Dale's all-time favorite rock group is Led Zeppelin, by far.
Jeff's favorite rock and roll album is Darkness on the Edge of Town.
While none of the seven brothers carry a red or blue hanky to blow their noses like Dad did, Jeff is the only one to "honk" like Dad did while blowing his nose.
Of the siblings, Jeff is the best at remembering driving directions, landmarks, and locations.
Of the siblings, Mike has climbed the highest man-made object. At 12 years old, he climbed to the top of a 60 foot silo.
Of the siblings, Dave is the most accurate in darts.
Of the siblings, Joe is the best chess player.
Of the siblings, only Dave & Dale have ever hosted regular poker games at their residences. Dale & Jess currently host a poker game with two other couples at their house about once a month.
Of the siblings, only Dave, Jeff, Margie, Mary Ann & Joe have ever played cribbage. Dave, Jeff, & Mom play regularly and are very competitive.
Dave, Jeff, Mom, and Jade all enjoy playing the card game, Okinawa Bridge, regularly.
Of the siblings, only Joe, Dave & Mike have ever had a Top Secret security clearance for the U.S. Government.
Of the siblings, only Mary Ann & Donna have ever been a volunteer teacher for a CCD class; Donna has been a volunteer for the last four years.
Of the siblings, only Dave and Jeff build custom cabinets for customers.
Of the brothers, Dave has built the most large woodworking projects for his house (5), followed by Jeff (3).
Jeff is the only brother to do construction/handyman side jobs regularly.
Jeff is the only brother to supervise an in-law at a job.
Donna is the only sibling to have ever moved back to and worked in the town of her birth (Little Falls, MN); Margie worked in the town of her birth while still in school (Milaca theater).
Donna & Janet both have had a job working with mentally-challenged adults.
Donna & Janet both worked at the same hospital at the same time twice in their careers; Valley Baptist Medical Center in 1982 and North Austin Medical Center in 1998.
Donna is the only sibling to have observed an actual autopsy (in nursing school, 1981, a young man with a gunshot wound).
Donna is the only sibling who is certified in both CPR and Neonatal Resuscitation; Judy is also certified in CPR and AED. (Joe & Dave were also certified in CPR while serving in the military.)
Donna is the only sibling to have assisted with a woman giving birth with no doctor or midwife present.
The smallest baby Donna has cared for was less than three pounds.
Of the siblings, Janet had the only Karaoke machine and she and her family used it frequently.
Of the siblings, Janet was the most into arts and crafts and created many cool things.
Of the siblings now, Donna shops for and owns the most "things" from Goodwill. Janet was also an avid thrift store shopper.
Of the siblings, Joe is the most frugal.
Of the siblings, Joe is the most computer savvy. There's probably a three-way tie for least computer savvy. :)
Of the siblings, only Joe & Jeff design web sites.
Of the siblings, Mike has the most "Google hits" on his first & last name as of April 2005 (over 700,000 hits).
Of the siblings, Dave is the only one who's ever attempted to ski down hill on an actual ski slope, but nearly killed himself. :) Mary Ann is the only one who's ever cross-country skied with any kind of skill.
Of the siblings, only Donna has ever successfully water-skied.
Of the siblings, as adults, only Dave, Margie, Mike, Sharon & Jeff have ridden a horse.
Of the siblings, Mike is the biggest consumer of beer followed by Joe and then Dale and Dennis. :)
Of the beer-drinking brothers, Jeff & Dave drink the absolute least, each averaging only about six beers per year or less; of the two, it's impossible to tell who drinks less.
Of the siblings, only Jeff and Dave smoke pipes, and ironically they both started the very same year (1988) when neither knew the other had started. (Dave was overseas at the time).
Of the siblings, only Mary Ann, Joe, Dennis & Mike smoke cigarettes.
Jeff and Dale were 11 & 10 years old the first time they got caught smoking cigarettes.
Jeff has used every type of tobacco at one time in his lifetime, having dipped snuff, chewed tobacco and smoked cigarettes as a teenager and cigars, cigarettes and pipes as an adult.
Of the brothers, only Gary, Jeff & Dave are fairly regular "gum-chewers" with Gary at the top of the list far exceeding everyone else.
All the brothers can "sing", but they pretty much sing equally bad. :)
All of the siblings are coffee drinkers except for Donna and Sharon.
Dale won Voigtbowl I on Feb 1st, 2004 ($130).
Jess won Voigtbowl II on Feb 6th, 2005 ($154).
Jess won Voigtbowl III on Feb 5th, 2006 ($190).
Dale won Voigtbowl IV on Feb 4th, 2007 ($133).
Dale won $20, Terry won $20, Jess won $20, and Joe won $40 in Squarespool I on Feb 3, 2002.
Dave won $56 and Terry won $35 in Squarespool II on Jan 26, 2003.
Mom won $50, Nic won $25, and Dave won $25 in Squarespool III on Feb 4th, 2007.
Jess won $75, Dennis won $37.50, and Mom won $37.50 in Squarespool IV on Feb 3rd, 2008.
Dennis won the Hannah Baby Pool on Aug 3, 2004 guessing her birth date and time within 72 minutes ($121.50).
Jakob alone won the Jakob Baby Pool on Jun 26, 2005, having entered the world ahead of schedule ($140.00).
Trevor can beat Uncle Dave in Arm Wrestling; at least he thinks that he can. :)
Mike remains the Arm Wrestling champion of the brothers. :)
Joe remains the Ping Pong champion of the brothers. :)
The Upper Five brothers remain undefeated in football and volleyball against the Lower Two brothers. :)
Of the Upper Five brothers, Dave throws the tightest and most powerful spiral. Of the Lower Two, Dale does.
Of the siblings, only Dave, Jeff, Dale & Gary can throw a genuine football spiral.
Of the siblings, Dave is the oldest football-playing family member who regularly (and eagerly) plays in every family football scrimmage or practice.
Of the siblings, only Dale ever played in Little League softball.
Dale & Gary were the only siblings to ever have played in an organized Flag Football League (1999 - 2000).
Dennis is the only sibling to work out regularly at a health club (2 to 3 times a week).
Jeff is the only brother to have played golf (a foursome) on a real golf course.
Of the siblings, only Joe, Donna & Mike are night owls.
Of the siblings, Joe & Donna get by with the least amount of sleep (5-6 hours per day).
Of the siblings, only Donna, Dave & Dennis are always running late.
Of the siblings, Joe and Jeff are the most prompt.
Of the brothers, only Gary has never driven a tractor.
Mary Ann is the only sister to have driven the Alis Chalmers tractor.
Of the brothers, only Dale and Dave have ever driven a Bobcat. (Mike's old Mercury Bobcat doesn't count :)
Of the brothers, only Joe, Dave, Dennis & Jeff have never broken a bone.
Of the immediate family, only Mom & Dale have ever had the Heimlich maneuver performed on them for an actual choking incident (both administered by Dad).
Four of the females in the family were diagnosed with hypothyroidism: Mom, Mary Ann, Donna & Janet.
Janet and Sharon are/were the only two siblings with a chronic illness (diabetes).
Sharon has taken over 9100 insulin injections in her lifetime.
Sharon has been hospitalized at least 14 times; her birth (Princeton '65), stomach infection (Milaca '73), diagnosis of diabetes (Milaca '76), 4 times for diabetes complications as a teenager (Harlingen), Jeremy's birth (Harlingen '85), twice for diabetes complications (McAllen '86), once in Austin TX while visiting Margie ('89), Chad and Janessa's births (Fridley '91,'93), breast surgery (Minneapolis '99), diabetes complications - in intensive care for 4 days (Wyoming, MN '03).
Only Joe has been hospitalized over the span of two siblings' birthdays (Mike, Dennis), 26-29 Aug '05. Interestingly, Dave made a hospital visit during a sibling's birthday (Gary) just two weeks later, 10 Sep '05. And more interesting still, Mom was hospitalized during a sibling's birthday (Dale) just seven months before, 4 Feb '05.
The year 2005 was one of medical procedures: Mom- hernia surgery, Maggie- childbirth, Joe- appendectomy, Terry (north)- colonoscopy, Dave- colonoscopy, Margie- dog bite, Zachary- hand surgery.
Growing up, the only siblings that ever had injuries are Joe with hair ripped out in a drill press; Mike with a hot oil burn on the head and hand and also a broken leg from a motorcycle accident; and Dale with a ruptured spleen from a playground accident.
Growing up, Dale is the only sibling to get hit between the eyes by a baseball bat (swung by Janet).
Growing up, Joe flipped the go-kart, dune buggy, his own car, two motorcycles and three snowmobiles.
Growing up, Mike flipped the Case tractor in the ditch on the way back from Stromberg's after getting eggs in the middle of a snow storm with Jeff and Dale. Dave and Tiny Mills have also flipped the Case tractor.
Growing up, Joe and Dave once flipped off Delbert's bus. :)
Growing up, we must have gone through a dozen engines for the go-kart, from lawnmower engines to chainsaw to snowmobile. :)
Growing up, the most athletic sister was Margie.
Growing up, the most athletic brother was Joe.
Growing up, the sibling that could jump to the ground from the greatest height was Joe (12 ft 4 in, from the tower railing).
Growing up, no sibling ever made the "A" honor roll, but several made the "B."
Growing up, no sisters were ever cheerleaders and no brothers were ever on the football team, although the brothers wished they were.
Growing up, Mary Ann once captured a green tree frog and skinned it alive, scaring the bejeezus out of her younger siblings. :)
Growing up, Mary Ann was the only sibling who was ever a member of a 4-H club.
Growing up, all the siblings enjoyed leisurely Sunday strolls with Dad looking for agates on the gravel roads.
As we were growing up, Mom got groceries every Friday night.
As we were growing up, Mom made 8 loaves of homemade bread per week.
Growing up, we had cake every Sunday.
Growing up, ice cream was a treat, and a 5-quart pail only lasted for two times.
Of the siblings growing up, Dennis took the smallest bites of his ice cream.
Of the siblings growing up, only Joe & Dave were ever in the attic at the country house in Milaca.
Growing up, we had a milkman.
Growing up, Joe & Dave built a tree house with three levels, a bridge, and two sections for the siblings (1971).
Growing up, Joe & Dave were bicycle-fixing maestros. With a shed workshop filled with old bicycle parts, they were able to build at least a half dozen or so good working bikes for the siblings.
Growing up, Jeff was the only sibling to have Dad teach him how to ride a bicycle.
Growing up, Joe & Dave had the biggest collection of plastic soldiers and cowboys and Indians (about 150). Every single one was given a name and statistics and were transformed into rubber-banded super heroes or match-melted villains. :)
Growing up, the siblings frequently used "soakies" as makeshift water cannons and many a battle were conducted. (Soakies were empty dish washing liquid containers).
Growing up, our family had the following musical instruments: organ, guitar, bongo drums, trumpet, flute, accordion, and maracas.
With all those musical instruments in our home, it's funny nobody grew up playing in a band. :)
Of the extended family, only Janessa owns a piano, but both Janessa and Breahna take weekly piano lessons and both play fluently.
Of the extended family, only Katy can play the viola.
Growing up, the activity we did most away from home was roller skating at Fish Lake, near Mora, MN.
The most famous song we all remember from those Sunday roller skating adventures was The Night Chicago Died and Ballroom Blitz.
Growing up, Mary Ann was the best roller skater. The rest of us siblings basically sucked. :)
Growing up, Jeff was the only sibling to be thrown into the Milaca High School swimming pool by Coach Perry and still didn't learn how to swim.
Jeff nearly drowned while tubing down the Apple River in Somerset, Wisconsin in 1990. A very young boy rescued him. This is nothing to laugh at. :(
Growing up, Joe & Dave mastered the art of chopping the heads off chickens. It was always fun to watch them running around just after becoming headless. :)
Growing up, only three siblings (Margie, Mike & Sharon) ever faked how bad their eyes were just to get glasses. :)
Of the siblings, only Gary & Janet have never been prescribed eye glasses.
Of the siblings, only Joe wears military-style glasses.
Of the entire family, only Chad has ever worn braces on his teeth.
Joe has worn the same pair of shoes for over 24 years.
Growing up, the most favorite show the older brothers watched was Mission: Impossible.
Growing up, the most favorite show the older sisters watched (when the brothers let them) was Marcus Welby, M.D.
Growing up, the most popular outside games the siblings played were "The Lying Down Game", "Prisoner's Base, "Seven Steps Around the House", "Spool Tag" and Softball.
Growing up, the group the siblings enjoyed listening to the most of Dad's old records was The Byrds. We still fondly remember that Jailer Bring Me Water 45 and the How Lovely Cooks the Meat one too. :)
Dale was the first brother in TX to own a riding lawnmower, followed by Dave (who actually used his first). Dennis was the first brother in MN to own one.
Dennis is the only brother to be a member of a men's charitable club (St. Cloud Eagles Club).
Of the siblings, only Mary Ann & Joe are members of AARP.
Of the siblings, only Joe, Dennis, Margie, Mike & Jeff are members of the Voigt Holding Cell Club.
Dave is the only family member who's ever been talking to a sibling on his cell phone while driving when cop lights appear in his mirror, targeting him, although the cell phone wasn't the reason for the supposed infraction. No ticket was issued, however, due to "professional courtesy" (former military status).
Jeff is the only brother to rebuild a vehicle engine from scratch.
Jeff is the only brother who changes his own vehicle motor oil.
Jeff was the first sibling to own a van.
Jeff is the only sibling to have purchased a pickup from two brothers (a 1980 Dodge D 50 from Dennis in 1990 and a 1999 Ford Ranger from Dale in 2005).
Only two siblings have owned vehicles older than themselves: Dennis once owned a 1950 3/4 ton Chevrolet truck that he sold to Dad for $50, who drove it from Minnesota to Harlingen, Texas with 13 inches of play in the steering! And Jeff once owned a 1967 Volkswagen bus.
Dennis is the only sibling to have owned a vehicle that was eventually restored and displayed in a museum (Texas Air Museum - 1950 Chevrolet Truck).
Dave is the only sibling who's ever sold a vehicle to an aunt or uncle (Doreen).
Dennis is the only sibling to have bought a lawnmower from an aunt or uncle (Richy).
Joe is the only sibling to have bought a lawnmower from a sibling (Jeff).
No sibling ever drove Dad's "Big Beast" motorcycle.
Of the brothers, Dave has owned the most motorcycles (5).
Of the sisters, Mary Ann has owned the most motorcycles or scooters (2), with Donna being the only other sister to have owned a motorcycle.
Of the sisters, Janet was the most handy with power tools.
Most sisters have never used an electric hand drill. Similarly though, most brothers have used an electric egg beater at least once. :)
Of the siblings, Dave has won the most concert ticket giveaways from radio stations since 2001 (6 pairs).
Margie is probably the only sibling to have ever seen Barry Manilow in concert (and got teased mercilessly by her brothers for doing so).
Joe is the only sibling to have seen Heart in concert three times.
Of the brothers, Dennis & Jeff have seen Bruce Springsteen the most in concert (6 times). Joe never has.
Of the siblings, only Dave has ever attended a concert in another country (England, 1987. Pink Floyd, sans Waters).
Of the three All-time Greatest, Most Influential, Rock 'n' Roll Bands ever (Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and The Rolling Stones), only Dave and Terry Sharp have ever seen any of them in concert (Pink Floyd & Led Zeppelin, respectively).
Of the brothers, Dave can grow a beard the fastest and get it the fullest, followed by Jeff. Gary is the only brother who can't grow a beard. :)
Of the brothers, only Joe, Dave, Dennis & Dale have facial hair.
Of the brothers, Joe has worn a mustache the longest continuously (29 yrs).
When the brothers had hair, none of them parted it on the right side.
The tallest brother is Dale (5'11") followed by Dave (5'10") and Gary (5'10").
The shortest brother is Joe (5'8") followed by Dennis (5'9") and then Mike (5'9.3") and Jeff (5'9.5").
The tallest sister is Margie (5'10") followed by Mary Ann (5'7.5").
The shortest sisters are Donna (5'4") and Sharon (5'4").
The heaviest brother is Dale (190) followed by Jeff (189) and then Joe (177) and then Dave (175).
The lightest brother is Dennis (157) followed by Mike (165) and Gary (165).
According to Jung personality type, three siblings are ISTJ (Dave, Jeff, Dale), two are ESTJ (Margie, Gary), two are INTP (Joe, Mike), two are ESFJ (Dennis, Sharon), and two are ESFP (Mary Ann, Donna). Mom is an ISFJ and Dad was an ISTJ, and Janet was an E/ISFJ.
The loudest sibling is Dave followed by Dale. Janet was the second loudest sibling.
The quietest sibling is Jeff followed by Gary.
The baldest brother is Gary, Dale isn't (yet).
Of the brothers, only Joe, Dave, Jeff & Gary cut their own hair.
The sibling with the biggest shoe size is Gary.
The sibling who owns the largest wardrobe is Margie.
Having the smallest wardrobe of the siblings, Joe wears a lot of brown Air Force T-shirts as an outer garment.
Donna, Dennis & Mike each have two refrigerators, one to keep the food cold and one to keep the beer cold. :)
Donna, Margie, Mike, Dale & Sharon are the only siblings who own a deep freeze.
Joe, Jeff & Dale regularly use the shower for more than one purpose. :)
Of the siblings, Joe watches the most television (over 60 hours a week).
The sibling with the most television sets in use in the home is Dennis (7), followed by Donna, Margie & Mike (5).
The sibling with the largest television set is Dave (52 inch) followed by Dennis.
Trevor has the largest television set (55 inch) that was found in the trash and still works. :)
The sibling with the most VCR players in use in the home is Dennis (5).
The siblings with the most DVD players in use in the home are Dennis & Dale (4 each).
The siblings with the most telephones in use in the home are Dave & Dennis (6 each) followed by Margie (5).
The sibling with the most wall clocks in use in the home is Dave (8). Margie has the most clocks in use in the garage (3).
The siblings with the most window blinds in the home are Dale & Margie (11 each), followed by Dave (10).
The siblings with the least stereos are Joe and Mike (0).
Jeff, Dave, Dennis, & Gary all collect compact discs as a hobby.
The sibling with the biggest CD collection is Dennis (2200+) followed by Dave (1400+); Mike has the smallest CD collection (8).
The sibling with the biggest DVD collection is Joe (230+) followed by Dave (175+).
The sibling with the biggest VHS collection is Joe (400+) followed by Dave (212).
The sibling with the biggest Laser Disc collection is Dave (115).
The sibling with the biggest Book collection is Joe (2000+).
The sibling with the biggest Playboy collection is Joe (250+).
The sibling who subscribes to the most magazines is Joe (22).
Joe's favorite magazine is Scientific American.
Every brother, except Dennis & Mike, has been or is a subscriber to FHM magazine.
Dennis is the only sibling who has every issue of Entertainment Weekly and Maxim magazines since their debuts.
Dennis is the only person in the family to have subscribed to The Mille Lacs County Times since he graduated from high school.
Of the entire family, only Mom, Joe, Dennis & Jeff regularly subscribe to a local newspaper.
Of the siblings, Dave owns and still uses the only laser disc player in the family.
Joe owns every Coen Brothers film released on DVD (all 12 of them).
Of the siblings, Joe writes with the tiniest cat scratch, followed by Jeff. :).
Of the siblings, Mary Ann is the fastest typist, followed by Margie and then Sharon. Dennis is the fastest typist of the brothers. Joe is the fastest four-finger typist, though. :)
Of the siblings, only Dave owns his own bowling ball, shoes and bag.
The sibling with the highest bowling score achieved on a league was Dave (248). The sibling with the highest nonleague score was Joe (262).
Of the siblings, Dave has the highest final league bowling average of 159 (after 81 games).
Of the siblings, Dave has been on a bowling league for the most consecutive years (10).
Of the siblings, Dave has the most "over 200" games in bowling (21), his personal best was three in just one week (Feb '94).
Of the siblings, Dave obtained the highest score on the 80's classic video arcade game GALAGA reaching 173,240 points and completing 21 stages (1992).
Of the siblings, Dave & Margie have walked the farthest on stilts without jumping off (each walked to Samson's corner and back nonstop in 1974).
Of the siblings, Donna has the most godchildren (4), followed by Dave, Dennis & Jeff (3).
Emily and Jade are the only grandchildren to be baptized in the same church on the same day. Emily's mom is Jade's godmother and Jade's mom was Emily's godmother.
Of the siblings, Jeff is the only confirmation sponsor to two teenagers.
Of the siblings, Sharon lives both the furthest north and east, while Joe lives both the furthest south and west.
Of the siblings, for both Texas and Minnesota, a sister lives the farthest north (Donna/Sharon) and a brother lives the farthest south (Joe/Mike) and the brothers are each the next one up by age to the sisters.
Of the siblings, Dave has been to the most states (31), followed by Joe (30) and then Jeff (25).
Of the siblings, Dave has been to the most state capitals (15), as well as to the most world capitals (5 - Tokyo, Seoul, London, Athens, Riyadh).
Of the siblings, only Joe, Dave, Dennis & Mike ever worked in Dad's blacksmith shop.
Of the brothers, Joe has the most machinist tools.
Of the siblings, only Joe, Dave & Dennis were ever Mass Servers.
Janessa is the only second generation Mass Server.
Only Mom & Jeff can recite the rosary by heart and do so on a regular basis.
Jeff's favorite church hymn of all time is Holy God We Praise Thy Name, while his favorite Lent hymn is Crown Him With Many Crowns, and his favorite Advent hymn is Silent Night, and his favorite song to Mary is Hail! Holy Queen Enthroned Above.
Joe's favorite Christmas song is O Holy Night, followed by Winter Wonderland, both sung by Jewel, of course.
Joe & Donna are the only siblings to watch the funeral of Pope John Paul II live at 3 am CDT.
Of the extended family, only Jeremy has seen Pope John Paul II in person.
Of the siblings, only Joe shares his birth name with the new pope. :)
Of the siblings, only Sharon has the same name as a celebrity or somewhat famous person; Sharon Sachs the producer/editor/actor had a minor role in Home Alone 3 and Showtime's new series Huff.
Two siblings share their birthdays with a Beatle offspring; Dave with Julian Lennon and Dennis with Mary McCartney. And two other siblings share their birthdays with a Beatle wife; Mike with Barbara Bach and Gary with Cynthia Lennon. Likewise, Dennis is the only sibling who shares a birthday with a Rolling Stone offspring (James Jagger). Mom, however, is the only one in the family who shares a birthday with a Beatle or a Rolling Stone (Ron Wood).
Of the siblings, Dave is the only one whose birthday falls on the same day as a rock star's self-inflicted death. (Nirvana's Curt Cobain committed suicide on 4-8-94 at age 27).
Of the siblings, only Margie and Dale ever played sports on a school team.
Of the siblings, Dennis, Margie, Mike, Sharon, Dale & Gary own dogs or cats.
Margie & Jeff are the only siblings to have been bitten by a dog.
Of the brothers, Joe, Dave & Jeff have said they will never own a cat! :)
Of the siblings, Dennis has the earliest childhood memories (3 yrs, 3 mos - JFK assassination).
Of the siblings, only Joe and Dave allowed the Ouija board to start spelling F U C before shoving the pointer away while demonstrating it to Dad. :)
Dave's all-time favorite board games from childhood to adult have always been Scrabble and Monopoly.
Josh once learned football skills from Vikings head coach Mike Tice at a Vikings summer camp for high school athletes, and Dennis, Savannah and Trey got to shake the coach's hand!
Dave, Margie, Jeff, Dale & Gary all watched the Vikings smear the Cowboys live on Thanksgiving Day at Dallas, 1998.
Of the siblings, Joe, Dave, Dennis, Mike, Jeff and Dale are rabid Vikings fans. Go Vikes!
Of the siblings, Margie and Gary are rabid Cowboys fans.
Of the siblings, only Dave has ever been an actual clown, complete with painted face and costume, and made several appearances for children and charity events.
Of the siblings, only Margie plays the lottery regularly, more than five times a month since inception of the Texas Lottery (early 90's), having once won $104, but probably spending over $2000 in ten years just to get it. :)
While Minnesota is loaded with casinos run by Native Americans (about 16), Texas has only 2, but yet Texas is nearly 3 1/2 times larger. It's funny how the family members who enjoy casino gambling the most live in the state with the least. :)
Only Dave & Jeff have been to a casino in Texas, non-riverboat type (at Eagle Pass).
Of the siblings, Joe drives the oldest vehicle ('85 Honda Civic) and Jeff drives the newest ('07 Kia Sedona).
Of the siblings, Dave has owned the most vehicles (21) followed by Jeff (14) and then Dennis (13).
Of the siblings, Joe has owned the least vehicles (4).
Of the siblings, Mary Ann has owned the most vehicles at one time (5), followed by Donna & Jeff (3).
Of the siblings, Dave has owned the most "stick-shift" vehicles (11).
Of the entire family, the vehicle type that was owned by the most people at the same time was Ford Ranger. Three brothers (Jeff, Dale, & Dave) owned Rangers at the same time for an eight-year period. ('97 - '05).
Jeff is the only sibling to have owned three Ford Rangers.
Of the siblings, Donna has owned the most Buick cars (4), and still owns two.
Dave is the only sibling who's owned cars with right-hand drives, four of them in just seven years ('83 - '90).
Of the siblings, only Joe, Dave & Gary drive a vehicle with a standard transmission on a regular basis or as their primary vehicle.
Of the siblings, only Donna has never owned a vehicle with a stick shift (although her husband has).
Of the siblings, only Mary Ann, Margie & Dale have ever owned an SUV.
Of the siblings, Joe has had the most speeding tickets (24+) and once had 7 within a period of less than 15 months (1/80 - 4/81) and went on to amass a total of 11 within just 3 1/2 years ('80 - '83). Not far behind, Dave once had 8 speeding tickets in a four-year period (8/78 - 12/82).
Of the siblings, Margie has had the longest span without a speeding ticket (none since 1988).
Of the siblings, Sharon has twice had the shortest span between speeding tickets (10 minutes & 1 hour), followed by Joe (7 hours).
Of the siblings, Dave owned the first CB radio (1975), followed by Joe (1976).
Of the siblings, Joe owned the first camcorder (1980).
Of the siblings, Jeff owned the first cell phone (1993), while Joe owned his the most recently (2003).
Of the siblings, Joe uses his cell phone the least, followed by Mary Ann. :) Jeff, by far, uses his the most.
Jeff is the only sibling who carries three cell phones (one personal and one for each of his two jobs).
Jeff is the only sibling to have a toll free cell phone number (and only two siblings, uncle Rich and mom ever call him on that line).
Of the siblings, Dave owned the first compact disc player. (Oct '84)
Of the siblings, Dave owned the first DVD player (2000).
Of the siblings, Jeff was the first to own a satellite dish.
Of the siblings, only Dave, Sharon, & Jeff have satellite TV systems (DirecTV) instead of cable.
Of the siblings, only Dave has ever been to Roswell, NM, the site where grotesque aliens allegedly crash-landed in 1947.
Of the siblings, only Dave has been to Stonehenge. Likewise, no sibling has ever been to Easter Island.
Of the siblings, only Dave has ever been on a tour of Alcatraz and saw the actual cell that Frank Morris escaped from.
Of the siblings, only Dave, Mike and Jeff have been to Cadillac Ranch (and Jeff sings the Springsteen song better).
Of the siblings, only Joe can name all the planets correctly backwards in order of their distance out from the Sun. Emily can also do the feat.
Of the siblings, only Dave has ever driven on a remaining stretch of Route 66.
Of the siblings, Mike has had the most occupations (15) and Joe & Dennis have had the least (4).
Of the siblings, only Joe, Donna, Dave & Mike have ever worked the midnight (graveyard) shift.
Dave once worked in the same company or work environment as a cousin (Julie Voigt). Ironically, nine years earlier he also worked in the same job as Julie's mother's relative. Likewise, Donna also once worked with a cousin at the same work place (Steven Billmeyer).
Of the siblings, only Donna is licensed to work by the state. She needs a license to work and has to renew it with the TX board of Nursing every two years with continuing education credits required.
Of the siblings, only Mary Ann, Joe, Dave, Dennis & Janet have never worked in a fast food restaurant.
Gary was the only brother who was ever a waiter in a family-style restaurant and Mary Ann was the only sister who was never a waitress in a family-style restaurant.
Jeff once worked at McDonald's for one day (a long time ago!) and has never included it on a resume; likewise Mike once worked at Hardees for one day and never included it on a resume.
Jeff once worked three jobs at the same time; full time for ABM, self employed part time cleaning a machine shop and part time washing buses at Voigt's Bus Company in Fridley, MN.
Of the siblings, Margie is the only one to be currently self-employed.
Of the extended family, Trevor is the only "carny", working as a ride attendant at Austin's Park and Pizza (go-karts and bumper boats).
For 15 continuous years Dave worked in a building and/or office that had absolutely NO windows.
Jeff is the only sibling to have owned a corporation (Voigt's Cleaning Company, Inc) from 1995-1997.
Jeff is the only sibling to fall asleep on the exact same stretch of Highway 83 in Harlingen two consecutive late nights in 1988 inspiring him to move closer to his job on South Padre Island.
Mary Ann, Joe, Donna, Dave, Dennis & Janet each attended secondary schools for their career choices.
Donna & Dennis are the only siblings to have attended the same vocational school (St Cloud Area Vocational-Technical Institute).
Mary Ann & Donna are the only sisters to have ever been a summer girl (living and caring for the children in a family for the summer) while in high school, they made approximately $25 per week with only one day off per week.
Donna is the only sibling to have brought a younger sibling to school for a project. Two-year-old Gary was the student for her project in her Child Development class.
Only Joe, Donna & Dennis took Creative Writing in high school and got A's.
While in high school, Jeff nearly flunked English class but had an A+ average in German class.
Of the siblings, Joe took the most advanced math and science courses in high school and aced nearly every one of them.
Only Dave got A's every quarter in 9th Grade Industrial Arts and built many unique wood projects including a night stand, which somehow got lost over the years.
Jeff, Dale & Sharon all had the same instructor (Mr. Orneles) for 9th grade Spanish class, Jeff imitates him the best.
Jeff & Dave enjoy imitating Dad's gestures and sayings, it is unclear who is best.
Only Joe & Dave still have every single one of their school report cards from the 8th grade on, but only Jeff still has his 6th grade report cards.
Donna made 50 cents per hour babysitting as a teenager, and her daughter Emily made $5.50 per hour babysitting 28 years later.
Only Donna, Dennis, Jeff & Dale worked for school districts while in high school.
Of the siblings, Margie was the youngest to work outside of the family business; at age 14 she worked at the Milaca theater as a cashier. (Dennis apparently lied about her age or talked management into letting his little sister work there!)
Dad served in the Air Force and then eventually had a long career in the welding and metal working field; Dave was the opposite with a short career in welding and metal working first and then immediately followed with a long career in the Air Force.
Janet, Jeff & Dave are the only siblings to be born in Minnesota, move to Texas, move back to Minnesota and then move back to Texas.
Of the siblings, Dave has lived in the most places as an adult (22) followed by Mike (21) and Margie (20).
Of the siblings, Dennis has lived in the least places as an adult (6).
Of the siblings, only Joe has never shared a residence with another sibling as an adult.
Of the siblings, only Mary Ann, Joe & Dave live alone.
Three siblings have all lived together as adults: Donna, Janet & Margie (in a fourplex in '83).
Jeff has lived with 3 brothers (Dave, Dennis & Dale) and 2 sisters (Janet & Margie) at different times of his adult life.
Gary was the last sibling to live in an apartment (2005), followed by Margie (2003); only Mom currently does.
Both Dave & Jeff, at different times, rented an apartment in the same building that had a major infestation of cock roaches, including the huge flying kind! And sadly, for each, this was their first experience at apartment living.
Of the siblings, only Joe is a next-door neighbor to a prominent musician (Frenchie Burke).
Jeff once lived across the street from a murder scene. He knew both the victim and the felon.
Of the entire family, only Dave has very unfriendly, unsociable, and screwed up neighbors on every single side of his house!
Of the entire family, only Mom, Dave & Jeff maintain a spare bedroom in their homes that is always set up "just for guests" and not used for anything else (i.e. only guest bed, dresser, etc. in the room).
Of the entire family, Dave probably has had family members stay overnight the most often, since all siblings and Mom at one time or another have stayed overnight at least once in his home.
Mike has lived in some of the funniest places: In a back bedroom, above a saloon, three garage apartments, and in a cheap motel. :)
Of the siblings, Joe has lived the longest in one place (18 yrs 4 mos).
Of the siblings, Mary Ann has owned the most houses overall (4).
Of the siblings, Dale has the tallest house in TX and Mary Ann has the tallest one in MN.
Of the siblings, Dale has the largest house in TX (2600+ sq ft).
Of the siblings, only Margie & Jeff have owned or rented a house on the Gulf Coast.
Of the siblings, only Joe, Dennis, Sharon & Gary have a house with a deck.
Of the siblings, only Sharon has a house with a multi-level entry at both ends (and probably has the most rooms), and also has an addition on both ends of the house as well.
Of the siblings, only Donna & Jeff have a "wheel thing" in their backyard.
Of the entire family, Margie is the only one who doesn't usually lock her doors at night, while Dave & Dale are the very opposite as they not only lock their doors every night, but also set their alarms.
Of the siblings, only Dave and Dale have houses with monitored alarm systems.
Of the siblings, Mary Ann has had her house broken into the most times (2), followed by Margie & Jeff (1).
Of the siblings, Joe & Dave have had their vehicles broken into the most times (1).
Of the siblings, Joe has had his vehicle fired upon the most times (2).
Of the siblings, only Mary Ann, Donna, Dave, Jeff & Dale had their current homes built from scratch according to their selection choices.
All of the siblings own their own home, Mary Ann was first to own ('83) and Joe the most recent ('03).
Three brothers have owned their own manufactured homes (Joe, Jeff & Gary), while no sisters ever have.
Ten siblings own homes with garages, but Margie is the only one who never parks in hers. :)
Three siblings each have owned two pieces of real estate at the same time (Mary Ann, Margie, Sharon).
Sharon is the only sibling who owns real estate in two different states.
Of the siblings, Sharon lives on the most acreage; Gary lives on the least. :)
Jeff is the only landlord in the family.
Of the siblings, Dave has the most mutual fund investment accounts (6) and has been an active investor for 14 years straight.
Only two siblings are retired, Joe (1996) and Dave (2001).
Only Dad, Mom, Mary Ann, Donna, and Janet have ever ridden on a train in the U.S.
Only Dave, Mike and Mary Ann have ever ridden on a train in Europe.
Janet was the only sibling who ever traveled to Seattle, WA by train with Mom & Dad; she was 7 years old at the time.
Two brothers have never owned a pickup (Joe & Mike).
Dave is the only brother who solely drives a pickup (2003).
Dave has the family record of traveling the most miles by car on any one vacation as the solo driver. His west coast trip in 1991 covered 5 states and 4,333 miles total.
Jeff drives an average of 50,000 miles per year for work since 1998 having clocked just over 300,000 miles. Likewise, in all of those years he's only spent roughly $700 of his own money on gas.
Of the siblings, Joe drives the least (less than 10 miles average per week).
Jade will be the fifth generation Voigt-descendant to live in Germany for several years.
Dale & Jess are the only family members to ever vacation (honeymoon) in Mexico (not border towns).
Dale & Jess are the only ones to have ever visited real Mayan pyramids, Tulum, MX (2002). Jess has climbed the Chichen Itza Mayan Pyramids in Chichen Itza, MX which stand at 79 feet and have 91 steps (2001).
Of the siblings, only Joe & Dave have ever lived in a desert (Saudi Arabia).
Only three siblings have ever lived in foreign countries, Dave (4), Joe (2) and Mike (1).
From mid-1983 through early 1984, Mom & Dad had three sons stationed overseas at the same time, each in different countries; Joe in Korea, Dave in Japan, and Mike in Germany.
Of the siblings, Mike was the first to live overseas (Germany, Dec '82) and Dave was the last (Saudi Arabia, Mar '98).
Of the siblings, only Dave has ever stepped foot in a Communist country with the "Reds" staring sharply at him. North Korea at the DMZ (U.N. conference building in Panmunjom) during an organized tour in 1986.
Only four siblings have ever flown across the Atlantic Ocean (Mary Ann, Joe, Dave & Mike).
Only two siblings have ever flown across the Pacific Ocean (Joe & Dave).
Dave is the only sibling who has stood on the beaches of the Mediterranean Sea.
Dale is the only sibling who has stood on the beaches of the Caribbean Sea.
Dave is the only sibling to have set foot in both the 49th and 50th states. Joe and Dave have each been in Alaska.
Joe is the only sibling who has been in every state west of the Mississippi except for WA & OR. Dave is in second place having missed WA, OR, UT & ID.
Dave has briefly visited, lived at, or vacationed in 14 overseas locations: Japan, Hawaii, South Korea, North Korea, England, Wales, Scotland, Germany, Belgium, Greece, Italy, Crete, Rhodes, and Saudi Arabia.
Dave sunbathed topless on the Greek resort island of Rhodes along with all the other tourists and locals doing the very same. :) Coincidently, no sibling has ever sunned sans clothes at a legitimate clothing-optional location, though several of us have been to Hippy Hollow (clothed, of course :).
All of the brothers, at one point or another, have been to gentlemen's clubs; only one sister and one sister-in-law ever has. :) Five brothers partied together in Oct '02 at The Landing Strip in Austin, TX for Dale's bachelor party.
Of the siblings, only Dave has toured lots of ancient and historic castles, some dating as far back as the 10th and 11th centuries, including Windsor Castle, near London, the oldest royalty retreat and residence still in use today, which was originally built as a fortress by William the Conqueror over 900 years ago and later housed Kings Henry I to Henry VIII, among others.
Of the siblings, only Dave has been to Coventry, England, where Lady Godiva allegedly rode nude on horseback through the town square in the 11th century to make a statement about lowering taxes (he saw the life-size horse & Godiva statue and the historical display).
Of the siblings, only Mary Ann & Dave have had a drink in the absolute oldest establishment. The building (built in 1189 AD) in Nottingham, England, was eight centuries old in 1990.
Of the siblings, only Dave has been to Plymouth, England, the place where the Pilgrims set sail on the Mayflower for the New World.
Of the siblings, only Dave has been to Liverpool, England, where all four Beatles grew up and he even saw their childhood homes.
Of the siblings, only Dave has ever gone sightseeing in both Tokyo and London.
Of the siblings, only Dave has ever rode on a donkey up a steep, winding mountain trail with sheer cliffs.
Of the siblings, only Dave has ever been on a deluxe gargantuan cruise ship.
Of the siblings, only Dave & Jeff have driven through Italy.
Of the siblings, only Joe has endured outside shade temperatures of 120+ degrees everyday for more than a month (Saudi Arabia, Jun-Jul '95).
Mary Ann has come to Texas for vacation at least once every year since the family moved there in 1979. She came down six times in 1996, the year Dad died.
Of the extended family, Jakob was the youngest person to ever attend a German festival (Wurstfest 2005 at 4 1/2 months).
Jeff missed the Fredericksburg Oktoberfest in 2005 for the first time in eight years.
Dave once quickly drove through a large herd of meandering, seemingly aggressive buffalo that were crossing the highway in Colorado. Scary ordeal. Jeff & Mangkone were passengers.
Of the siblings, only Dave & Jeff have ever traveled up what's dubbed the "highest paved road on the continent" and dodged mountain goats along the way. (Mt. Evans in Colorado, which is 14,260 feet to the top of the summit and has a paved road all the way to the top).
Of the siblings, only Joe & Dave have ever been to the Ponderosa Ranch near Lake Tahoe, NV where the old TV show Bonanza was filmed. Similarly, Joe, Dave, Jeff, Janet, Donna, & Gary have been to the Old Tucson movie set where town scenes from many westerns and TV shows were filmed.
Of the siblings, only Joe, Donna, Dave & Jeff have ever visited the beautiful covered bridges near Winterset, IA, made famous by The Bridges of Madison County.
Of the siblings, only Dave and Jeff have been to the historic Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota.
Of the siblings, only Joe, Dave & Jeff have been to Omaha, NE, as depicted in Bob Seger's hit song Turn the Page; likewise, only Dave, Dennis & Jeff have been to Mackinaw City, MI, as depicted in Bob Seger's song Roll Me Away.
Of the siblings, only Dave has ever been to an eating/drinking establishment owned and operated by a famous celebrity. (Actor Clint Eastwood's Hog's Breath Inn bar & restaurant in Carmel, CA, in 1991).
Of the extended family, only Dave, Jeff & Mangkone have ever dined at a family-style restaurant where tipping was actually discouraged with signs posted everywhere. A cool surprise indeed! (Mexican restaurant in Hondo, TX).
Dave has been to three towns that are depicted in Rock 'n' Roll songs, Winslow, AZ (The Eagles), China Grove, TX (The Doobie Brothers), and La Grange, TX (ZZ Top). Joe, however, has been to two of those same towns (Winslow & China Grove)
Dave & Jeff have been to each of the eight largest cities in Texas at least once.
Only five siblings have ever been to the Space Shuttle mockup in Houston, TX: Joe, Mike, Jeff, Dale & Gary.
Only five siblings have ever been inside an actual cave: Joe, Donna, Dave, Mike & Jeff.
Only five siblings have ever been to Las Vegas: Mary Ann, Joe, Dave, Dennis & Margie.
Only five siblings have ever been to the Black Hills and Mt Rushmore: Joe, Dave, Dennis, Sharon & Jeff.
Only four siblings have ever been to the Hoover Dam: Mary Ann, Joe, Dave & Dennis.
Only four siblings have ever visited Devil's Tower in Wyoming: Joe, Dave, Sharon & Jeff.
Only three siblings have ever been to Niagara Falls: Jeff, Dennis & Dave all vacationed there together in 1995.
Only three siblings have ever been to the geographical center of the Continental U.S. near Spearfish, SD: Joe, Dave & Jeff.
Only three siblings have ever been to the stream that starts the Mississippi River just SW of Bemidji, MN, in Itasca State Park: Dave, Dennis & Jeff.
Only two siblings have ever seen the tallest structure in the world, a 2,063 ft. antenna (KVLY-TV) in Blanchard, ND: Dave & Jeff.
Only two siblings have ever been to Old Faithful: Joe & Sharon.
Joe is the only sibling to have ever been to the Great Salt Lake Desert.
Joe is the only sibling to have ever been to Death Valley.
Joe is the only sibling to have seen the General Sherman Tree (largest girth) in Sequoia National Park in CA.
Joe is the only sibling to have ever stood in four states at once (UT, CO, AZ, NM).
At least half of the siblings have been to the Grand Canyon.
At least half of the siblings have been to Canada and all have been to Mexico.
Jeff, Dale & Gary regularly were dropped off at the bridge at Progresso, Mexico with a $100 bill to have dental work done as young lads making them the only family members to visit the dentist in Mexico; Dad would wait for them in the van.
Three siblings (Mary Ann, Joe & Dave) have yet to marry.
Janet was the first sibling to marry ('85) and Gary the most recent ('02).
Dale was the first brother to marry ('91), followed by Dennis ('92) and Jeff ('93).
Four siblings married Asians. Two currently are. (Donna & Jeff).
Of the siblings, Donna has been married the longest (19 yrs), followed by Margie (15 yrs) and then Dennis (12.5 yrs).
Jeff and Mangkone were married 11.5 years before starting a family.
Jeff is the only sibling to be married on a Friday.
Of Mom's grandchildren, Jade was the first to marry (Jan '06).
Four siblings (Donna, Dennis, Janet & Sharon) are tied with having the most children (3).
Four siblings have three children each and four siblings have one child each and four siblings have no children (not including step children).
Of the siblings, only Jeff & Gary have a child who was born in a different millennium than they were.
Of Mom's grandchildren, Katy & Trevor will be the first to become an aunt and uncle.
Of Mom's grandchildren, only Hannah & Jakob have never lived in two millenniums in their lifetime.
In our direct ancestry, neither Bartholomaeus, Wendelin, Leo or Leonard lived to see their great grandchildren. Leo came close (within 5 years), followed by Leonard (11 yrs), followed by Bartholomaeus (22 yrs), and finally Wendelin (37 yrs).
Uncle Rich is pretty much the only uncle that gets fairly regular visits from many of his Voigt nieces and nephews. Hopefully the next Voigt generation visits more than just one uncle when they are adults. :)
Of the siblings, only Mary Ann and Gary are left-handed.
Of the siblings, only Gary writes left-handed and eats and throws football right-handed.
Of the siblings, only Joe has seen a President in person (Ford, '76).
Of the siblings, Jeff and Dale are tied for being the best grill maestros.
Of the siblings, only Joe and Dennis & Dale live west of I-35 (all just barely).
Of the siblings, only Joe, Dave, Mike & Jeff were taught to weld by Dad. Subsequently, Dave had several welding jobs.
Of the siblings, only Joe, Donna, Janet, Margie, Mike, Sharon, Jeff, Dale & Gary have endured a hurricane.
Of the siblings, only Joe has had to temporarily relocate to a shelter due to a train wreck releasing dangerous gases.
Of the siblings, only Dave has ever flown on a glider and even momentarily took over the controls.
Of the siblings, only Dave, Margie & Jeff have ever flown in a helicopter.
Of the siblings, Joe was the first to fly on a commercial airline (Mar '76) followed by Dave (May '77).
Dale is the only sibling to ever have been a passenger on a Lear Jet (1998).
Dale is only sibling to regularly (3 times/year on average) fly on a corporate jet (McCoy's Citation Jet).
Margie is the only sibling to have ever taken a flight to Chicago to have lunch and return to Texas in the same day. :)
Margie is the only sibling to have sat next to George Strait in First Class on an American Airlines flight, and got a kiss on the cheek from him upon exiting the aircraft. Joe, however, is the only sibling to have ever been on a flight to the Valley with the members of Cheap Trick in Coach Class and they were going on about what angle the rain falls on Padre Island. :)
Of the siblings, Mary Ann owns the most antiques (lots).
Of the siblings, Dave has the most ceramic-type American Bald Eagle statues or displays in his home (8), while Joe has the most "chicken" objects in his home (9).
Two brothers, Dennis & Dave, have electronic treadmills in their homes.
Dave is the only sibling who owns professional metal detectors (2) and has participated in organized treasure hunts on several occasions in the 90's.
Joe is the only sibling who owns a professional telescope (Celestron 90).
Donna is the only sibling to own a swing set made by Dad.
Of the siblings, Dave, Jeff & Joe almost always sit exclusively on the west side of their dining room tables-- the "master's chair".
Margie is the only sibling who owns a regulation 8 ft pool table.
Of the siblings, Joe has owned the most personal computers (6), followed by Dave (5).
Of the siblings, Dave was the first to own a personal computer (Nov '87), followed by Joe (May '88).
Of the siblings, Gary was the last to own a personal computer ('02).
All of the siblings own a personal computer.
Amazingly, six family members each bought a new computer within a ten-month time period (12/04 - 10/05): Donna, Jade, Dave, Margie, Jeff & Gary.
Both Dave & Margie bought a new computer within a day of each other without knowing the other was buying one, having both owned their old computers for 8 years (Mar '05).
Of the siblings, Dave is the most prolific email writer, followed by Joe.
Of the siblings, Jeff generally writes the shortest emails, usually only one sentence.
Of the siblings, Dave generally writes the longest emails, followed by Joe.
Dale is the only sibling that doesn't check or respond to home email.
Joe is an ambassador for CoffeeCup Software.
Joe is the only sibling to ever have run a computer Bulletin Board Service ('91-'99).
Of the siblings, Joe is a member of the most internet forums (12).
Of the siblings, Joe uses the most web browsers on a regular basis (5).
Of the siblings, only Joe, Dave & Jeff use Firefox as their main web browser.
Of the siblings, Joe spends the most time at the computer (over 40 hours a week).
Of the siblings, only Mike, Joe & Margie ever play online Scrabble.
Of the siblings, Dave manages the most ongoing databases (15).
Of the siblings, Jeff is the most adept in family genealogy.
Margie is the only sibling who regularly sells on Ebay.
Three generations of the family have served in the United States Air Force; Dad ('48-52), Joe ('76-96) & Dave ('81-01), and Jade ('04 on).
Joe joined the Air Force 28 years after Dad did, and Jade joined the Air Force 28 years after Joe did.
During their Air Force stints, both Dad & Joe were stationed at both Keesler AFB, MS and Sheppard AFB, TX at one point. Dave, however, was never stationed where Dad had been.
Dad, Joe & Dave were all separated from the Air Force at bases in Texas; Dad at Bergstrom AFB in Austin and Joe & Dave at Kelly AFB in San Antonio (ironically, both bases were shut down less than 8 years apart).
Of the entire family, only Dad & Dave have served in both the Army and the Air Force.
Four brothers served in the military, Dave (24 yrs), Joe (20 yrs), Mike (2 yrs) and Jeff was in the Reserves.
Four brothers are expert marksmen with the M-16 Assault Rifle (Joe, Dave, Mike & Jeff).
Gary has shot a 9mm Baretta, .22 pistol, and 357 magnum on the police range and scored marksman.
Only Dave, Mike & Jeff have ever operated a .50 caliber machine gun (for training, not combat).
Only two brothers (Dale & Gary) have never fired a rifle, but yet Dale is the only brother who owns a rifle.
Mary Ann is the only sibling to own a working rifle.
Only one brother has never fired a firearm (Dale).
Margie is the only sister to have ever shot a pistol.
Mary Ann is the only sibling to have used a legitimate bow and arrow while in high school.
Joe, Jeff, Mike, Donna & Margie are the only siblings who have ever caught a fish.
Of the siblings, Margie has caught the largest fish (large Gulf Coast redfish, 23 inches).
Joe & Jeff are the only brothers to have had fishing licenses.
No brother has ever possessed a hunting license.
Janet, Jeff & Dale twice rode bicycles from Harlingen to South Padre Island.
Of the siblings, only Mary Ann, Donna, Dave, Jeff & Gary own a bicycle and still ride (at least occasionally) to this day.
Jeff saw his former secretary on the news in late March 2005 as being accused of killing her husband; this makes two murderers and one victim that he knew personally.
Dave is the only sibling to witness a robbery in his presence where a bullet was discharged. (a KFC restaurant in Minneapolis, 1980).
Dave is the only sibling who's ever had the misfortune of knowing and working with a direct-line supervisor who committed suicide at his own home late one night (while only his young daughter was in the house and asleep!).
Joe is the only sibling who was nearly killed by a wild Korean biyatch using a long shard of broken glass as a "knife", her cut hands dripping with blood (1984).
Donna & Janet were the only siblings to have accidentally been locked in a real jail cell (Lockhart Jail Museum) with their children and some nieces and nephews. :)
Dave is the only sibling who has ever had his arm around a famous rock star for a unique photo opportunity (Lita Ford in '94).
Dave is the only sibling who has ever met a Playboy Playmate in person and got her to autograph the photo spread (Sep 1979, Playmate Vicky McCarty who was in McAllen, TX).
Dennis once met TV's "Incredible Hulk" (Lou Ferrigno) at the Chicago O'Hare Airport.
Dave once met one of the "Duke Boys" in Minneapolis. (Actor Tom Wopat, who played Luke Duke on Dukes of Hazzard).
Donna and her family were extras in a low-budget movie. The movie Screen Door Jesus was filmed in Lockhart, TX. Each of them was paid $56 for the day. Poly and Jade also were extras in another low-budget movie filmed in San Marcos, TX, about a sporting event.
Donna works with a nurse who was a guest on the Dr Phil TV show on April 6, 2005.
Joe is the only sibling who has had his town (Lytle) shown in an episode of America's Most Wanted. (Mar '05).
Dave is the only sibling to have driven legally on the left side of the road (England & Japan).
Dave and Mike are the only siblings who have ever driven a tractor-trailer.
Jeff is the only sibling who can speak three languages (English, German, Spanish).
Dennis is the only sibling who's ever authored (or compiled) a book.
Jeff's music collection expands over more than a century (1898- 2003).
Mike spends the most time on the toilet (365 hours per year) and can also hug porcelain the longest without a seat lid falling. :)
Jeff is in third place with the most entries on this Fun Family Facts page (just behind Dave & Joe :).
Having more than 100 named entries apiece, Dave, Joe & Jeff comprise the Fun Family Facts Committee. :)
The Fun Family Facts page contains over 600 entries and over 13,000 words.
Of the entire family, Dave has submitted the most Fun Family Facts entries since its inception in Oct '03.
Gary is the sole sibling who has never submitted a Fun Family Fact entry on his own. :)
Katy is the only niece or nephew in the extended family who has submitted entries to the Fun Family Facts.
Jeff can tap his head and pat his stomach at the same time while whistling Dixie.
Joe, however, can tap his head and rub his stomach at the same time while whistling the theme song to The Bridge on the River Kwai.
Of the siblings, only Joe, Dave & Jeff play the harmonica (badly). :)
Jeff drove from Lockhart, TX to Ham Lake, MN in 18 hours straight (Jan 1997) without rest.
Mike drove from Harlingen, TX to Brooklyn Park, MN in 23 hours straight (1990) without rest.
Jade is the first in our immediate family to graduate from high school in December (6 months before her classmates).
Jeff and Dale helped re-roof St. Anthony's parish hall in Harlingen as teenagers.
Jeff and Dale are the only brothers to have built houses as a profession.
Dave, Jeff, and Dale each took Building Trades in high school and built houses.
Jeff was the president of the VICA Building Trades Club in school year 1984-85.
Jeff is the only brother to compete in a carpentry contest while in high school.
Joe, Dave & Dennis are the only brothers to have taken a cooking class in high school.
Mary Ann, Mike, Jeff & Dale were the only siblings to ever own a class ring.
Donna and Janet both married in the same church on the same day (Assumption- Harlingen, TX).
Dennis and Jeff both married in the same church, not on the same day (St. Mary's- St. Augusta, MN).
Only Dennis and Jeff married in the same church (St. Mary's Help of Christians Catholic Church) as our great grandparents Wendelin Voigt and Theresia Fietsam. Dennis 112 years later and Jeff 113 years later.
Dale & Jess are the only ones to have gotten married to each other twice (once in a Presbyterian church and once in a Catholic church).
Of the siblings, Dennis has been in the most weddings (8), while Dave has been in the most family weddings (5).
Jeff has been the best man at the most family weddings (Roger & Sharon, Dennis & Judy).
Of the siblings, Jeff traveled the farthest to attend (his niece and goddaughter) Emily's wedding (Colorado to Texas).
On any given Saturday at 5 pm, Mom, Dave, & Jeff can be found in their respective Catholic churches; likewise, on any given Sunday at 5 pm, Donna and her family can be found in theirs; likewise still, Dale and his family can be found in theirs every Sunday morning (sometimes Saturdays).
Of the siblings, only Donna attends a weekday Mass occasionally.
Of the siblings, Joe owns the most bibles (11), while both Joe & Donna's family own the most Catholic bibles (4).
Joe is the first son of the first son of the first son.
Joe was born 40 years to the day (Nov 18, 1956) after great grandfather Wendelin died (Nov 18, 1916).
Dale was 625 days old (20 mos) when his grandfather died and his son, Zachary, was 612 days old when his grandfather died.
There were 49 cousins, aunts, uncles and friends along with the LJV family on the Voigt bus to Valley Fair in the mid 70's.
The Lower Two brothers have yet to lose in football and volleyball against the Upper Five brothers. :)
In 1975, Joe & Dave each owned a red Ford Torino (ala Starsky & Hutch) with a fastback.
Siblings, Margie and Sharon, are both married to a Terry. Both Terrys have last names beginning with an S and containing 5 letters, both have 2 kids from previous marriages, both are in their 40's, and both have mooned the Voigt family! :)
Donna is the only sister to have kept her maiden name in her legal name after marrying; her middle name is now Voigt.
The siblings that use an abbreviated birth name religiously are Joe, Dave, Margie, Mike and Jeff.
Jeff is the only sibling who has the same exact initials as his godchild, JAV for Jeffrey Alan Voigt and Janessa Adrienne Vargas.
Jakob is the only family member to have a foreign middle name (Chalousinh).
Emily is the only family member possibly in all generations to have only vowels for initials (EAO).
All Voigt baby girls born after 1990 have names that end with either ah or a.
Of the extended family, the only person whose name is a palindrome is Hannah. But Dave is close as his birth name is off by only one letter.
Of the extended family, Dennis is the only one whose name as an ananym (backwards) actually spells a genuine word.
Of the siblings, only Dave, Dennis, Margie, Sharon, Dale & Gary have names that can easily produce valid single-word anagrams.
Of the siblings, only Joe has both a birth name (Joseph) and abbreviated name (Joe) that cannot form any (single-word or phrase) anagrams at all.
Katy is the only family member whose first and middle initials say her first name. (K.D.)
Katy and Emily are the only family members whose names can be abbreviated using just two or three letters and still make sense phonetically. (KD, MLE)
Of the extended family, only Dale, Jade & Chad have one-syllable birth names.
Two nieces are named after gemstones (Jade & Amber) and both are in the same family; and two nephews (Chad & Trey) also have names that are nouns.
Some nieces and nephews may have been named after soap opera characters. :)
Whereas there were 3 "J" names in our immediate family, the next generation has 6 with the addition of Jakob.
Of the brothers, only Joe, Mike & Dale have names that are also unisex names.
There are only 4 letters that are absent from all combined siblings' first and middle names (B, Q, X, Z).
Sharon & Gary are the only two siblings that don't share the beginning letter of their first names with any other sibling (and they are also the youngest female and the youngest male in the family).
Donna, Dave, Dennis & Janet are the only siblings who share names with hurricanes.
Dennis is the only sibling whose current house number's left two and right two digits both decrement by one from his previous house number: 1769 Casselberry Road, from 1870 Cooper Hills Road.
Two-thirds of the "M" siblings live in MN and three-fourths of the "D" siblings live in TX.
Dad's father came from a family of 11 children and Dad's mother came from a family of 11 children.
Dad came from a family of 8 children (4 boys, 4 girls) and Mom came from a family of 8 children (4 boys, 4 girls).
Of Leo & Elizabeth's grandchildren, Evelyn Boser was first to marry and Gail Voigt was the last.
Of Leo & Elizabeth's grandchildren, Mary Ann, Joe, Dave, James and Mark are the only ones to never marry.
Of the extended family, Savannah is the only one to be enrolled in Karate classes.
Of the extended family, Josh has had the most cars in four years (4).
Of the extended family, Trey is the only boy involved in Boy Scouts.
Of the extended family, Amber has the longest email address (25 characters) and Katy & Kelli have the shortest (15 characters).
Of the siblings, Joe has the most email addresses (10), followed by Jeff (3).
Of the extended family, only Katy and Erik are able to solve a Rubiks cube. Katy can do so in about two minutes.
Of the extended family, only Katy & Emily can recite the ABC's backwards in less than 10 seconds.
Of the extended family, only Dave, Mike, Jeff & Jade have ever thrown a live hand grenade.
Of the extended family, only Joe, Dave, Mike, Jeff and Jade have gone through a "gas" chamber.
Joe & Jeff are brewmeisters, having once brewed their own beer. :)
Sharon has been involved in and won a class action lawsuit with 9 other girls (theirs was one of 10 lawsuits that nearly shut down a nursing home in MN).
Sharon has been involved in two civil lawsuits (one against a private attorney and one against a contractor) and won both; Donna has also filed a civil lawsuit and won (against her previous landlord for the security deposit).
Jeff has sued two people in small claims court and won both cases.
Joe has the most pornographic playing card decks (3).
Jeff's favorite amusement park ride is the Tilt a Whirl, Joe's is the Scrambler, and Dave's is the Round Up.
Dave once rode on a dual Ferris wheel (one on top of the other) and vowed never to do that again as it scared the living crap out of him!
Donna once was pretty scared when she heard a cassette tape blaring the Rolling Stone's song, Emotional Rescue. :)
As a young airman in Japan, Dave, on a dare from his friends, once stupidly drank a couple of shots of the infamous "snakeju" and was fine at first, but later got pretty sick! The concoction, at a local bar, actually contained a genuine snake, although drunkenly dead, at the bottom of a large, clear, 2-gallon jar of unknown alcohol.
Joe & Jeff once sat in a bar in Austin, TX drinking shots of every kind of Schnapps in the book, finally resorting to shots of Tabasco Sauce among other wretched things.
Most alcohol consumed in one sitting: Joe and Jeff, 9 & 8 (respectively) Long Island Ice Teas on Padre Island (1988).
Jeff has had his stomach pumped due to alcohol poisoning as a young adult.
Donna is the only sibling who doesn't drink alcoholic beverages at all, although Gary almost never has a drink.
Most pizza consumed in one sitting: Dave and Dale, 16-18 slices each at a buffet in Harlingen (1987).
The only brother to beat up a kid in Dad's front yard and managed to get the police called was Gary.
The only brother to have Dad string a yellow ribbon to the oil dipstick so he wouldn't blow another engine gasket was Gary. :)
Dennis is the only sibling to have had a party in an apartment broken up by our father outside of the family home.
Dale was the only brother to get a huge graduation party thrown for him by his older brothers where three kegs were provided and even a wet T-shirt contest was held!
Of the siblings, Margie has had the most guests at a birthday party; on her 19th birthday the house was so full that guests were walking shoulder to shoulder to get from one room to another.
Of the siblings, Mike has driven a car the fastest. In his Datsun 240z, he reached the top speed of 125 mph.
Joe was the only one to ever get Dad's Country Squire station wagon airborne at 120 mph on a dusty gravel road with one hand on the steering wheel with the other clutched firmly around a can of beer (1975).
Joe, Dave, and Dennis helped Dad battle a huge grass fire in the middle of the night that was headed towards the house (1974).
Dave is by far the most flatulent sibling.
Dale has the strangest sounding belch of any sibling.
No sibling has ever received a tattoo, but a few in the next generation have.
No sibling has ever become a member of the Mile High Club (yet :)
No sibling has ever parachuted, hang-glided, bungie-jumped, or rode in a hot air balloon (yet).
No sibling has ever been to the White House, the Statue of Liberty, the Washington Monument, or the Letterman Show.
No family members, not even Mom & Dad, were in the Valley when Sharon gave birth to Jeremy, except for Joe & Dale (Aug '85).
When Mike was only 16 Dad allowed him to drive to Minnesota from Texas with just Sharon. On the way the fan belt broke and so he tied a nylon rope around the alternator and engine pulley and it worked. (1980).
In order to get to Germany years ago, Mike walked up through Canada and then took a dog sled team over the North Pole, finally swimming amongst icebergs on the way to Finland, then walking over land until reaching the Rhine where he took a tugboat on down to Germany. :)
2004 is the first year that all seven brothers mow their own lawns.
Since 2000, there's consistently been at least one housewarming party each and every year. In 2003 alone there were three of them.
1985 was the last year all siblings were "home for Christmas".
1974 was the last year all siblings were "home for Thanksgiving".
Thanksgiving continues to bring the Texas siblings and Mom together each year, with Mom making the Turkey and each sibling bringing their designated food item.
Dave hosted the most family gathering parties in 2003 (3).
The tallest structure besides the house on our old property in Milaca was the tree house, followed by the windmill, then the trash burner, then the Tower.
6/7ths of the Voigt brothers own two of the most classic albums of all time: Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and Led Zeppelin Four.
According to 6/7ths of the Voigt brothers, The Rolling Stones are better than The Beatles.
According to Joe, Dave, Jeff & Dale A Christmas Story is the funniest ever Christmas movie.
According to Joe, Becket is the greatest movie of all time (and it is!).
Dad's all-time favorite movie was the Henry Fonda classic, The Grapes of Wrath.
Oddly, three siblings have never seen two of the best movies ever. Sharon has never seen The Exorcist and Dennis has never seen Apocalypse Now, but Gary has seen neither. :)
Joe has seen the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind the most of any sibling (16).
Of the siblings, only Joe & Dave are addicted to the new hit TV drama Lost because of it's intelligence and intrigue, much like they were addicted to Mission:Impossible some 35 years earlier.
Of the siblings, Dave has the most Mission: Impossible episodes in his collection (124).
Of the siblings, only Mary Ann & Margie have ever eaten raw oysters.
Mom makes the meanest Meatloaf and the meanest Potato Salad and the meanest Country-style Ribs and the meanest Turkey Stuffing.
Joe makes the meanest Rice & Hamburger Hotdish.
Dave makes the meanest Crock o' Chili.
Margie makes the meanest Breakfast English Muffin Sandwiches and the meanest Sweet Potatoes and the meanest Garlic Mashed Potatoes.
Mike makes the meanest Corn Casserole.
Sharon makes the meanest Goulash.
Jeff makes the meanest Pancakes and the meanest Spaghetti Hotdish.
Dale makes the meanest Brisket & Sausage and the meanest Jack Daniels Pork Chops & Chicken and the meanest Garlic Smashed Potatoes and the meanest Sloppy Joes (slightly spicy).
Judy makes the meanest Home-made Pizza and the meanest Tator Tot Hotdish.
Jess makes the meanest Enchiladas
Mangkone makes the meanest Egg Rolls.
Jade makes a mean Cheesecake.
Emily knows how to cook.
Gary can microwave stuff from a can. :)
Jeff eats the most Hamburgers in one week (3 average).
Joe eats the most Hotdogs in one week (8 average).
Dave eats the most Bushes Baked Beans in one week (nearly 1 can).
Katy, of all the grandchildren, is the most avid baker.
Joe, Mike & Jeff each are able to make Meatloaf almost as well as Mom.
Mom is the best cook in the world.
What Games did we have as kids?
Family Baby Facts
Family Driving Distances

Total Entries: 707 - Named Entries: Dave-232 , Joe-202 , Jeff-174 , Dale-89 , Dennis-87 , Donna-81 , Mike-69 , Margie-67 , Gary-61 , Mary Ann-50 , Sharon-49 , Mom-42 , Dad-39 , Janet-34 , Jade-15 , Katy-14 , Emily-10 , Jess-10 , Jakob-9 , Trevor-7 , Chad-6 , Amber-5 , Hannah-5 , Maggie-5 , Terry (south)-5 , Trey-5 , Janessa-4 , Jeremy-4 , Josh-3 , Judy-3 , Sabrina-3 , Savannah-3 , Zachary-3 , Erik-2 , Julian -2 , Terry (north)-2

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visits since 10/28/2003 | Updated: 8/13/2008 11:32 am | Special thanks to Jeff Voigt for this page idea

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