Family celebrates 50 years in bustling house

With 11 grown children, their spouses and 33 grandchildren, John and Joan Brennan's house in the Washington Highlands serves as a hub of activity.

Today, April 30, marks the family's 50th anniversary in the Alta Vista Avenue home that has seen its share of holiday gatherings, Packers viewing parties and summer cookouts.

"They have opened up this home and been very generous," said their daughter, Sarah Mullarkey.

House buzzes with activity

On a typical day, kids can be found playing pingpong in the basement, swimming in the pool or running races in the backyard. When one of the young ones gets sick, grandma often picks them up from school and nurses them at the home, granddaughter Clare Druml said. At Halloween, the cousins go trick-or-treating throughout the neighborhood.

The clan gathers at the house to celebrate all of the birthdays that fall in a given month. A wedding reception for daughter Brigid Brennan, who married a man with the same last name, was held at the house. But the biggest family event happens each Christmas Eve, when a Marquette University priest comes to the home to perform mass for the Irish-Catholic family.

"I also recall the Christmas Eve dinners followed by my uncle Jim taking all the kids in the car for a tour of the neighborhood decorations," son Michael Brennan said. "Every year we would return to find out that we had just missed Santa Claus dropping off our presents under the tree."

Even with so many family members, grandparents John and Joan manage to give a gift to each one of them, granddaughter Sarah Nelson said.

Large family, large house

The family got its start when Joan came to the area for a nursing course, where she met John Brennan, an obstetrician at St. Joseph Hospital. They married in 1951 and moved into a small upper flat. After three kids, they had run out of space. So they moved into a home on 88th Street in Wauwatosa. By the time their sixth child entered the world, they knew it was time to upgrade again, Joan said.

"The home was for sale, but it hadn't been lived in for more than a dozen years so we were a bit wary, but eventually we bought it because of six bedrooms and six bathrooms," she said.

Even with the additional space, fights over bathroom use and among roommates were pretty typical.

"As with most things in life there is good and bad - we never had much privacy but always had someone to talk to about problems," daughter Jane "Dolly" Brennan Nelson said.

Each night, a meal was prepared and whoever could attend showed up, Joan said. With cheerleading, sports, part-time jobs and other engagements, people were constantly coming and going, she added. But they made every effort to get the entire brood together for Sunday dinner.

"We're accustomed to chaos. When it's quiet, it seems strange," Brigid Brennan said.

When they played at home, kickball games on the dead-end street, sledding on the hill in front of the house or ice skating at Elmer's Park ensued.

"The Brennan family brought this place to life," daughter Mary Druml said. "I consider myself privileged to grow up here."

Settling in Tosa

Most of the siblings decided to bring up their own families in Wauwatosa wanting to take advantage of the schools and Village area that had left a mark on their youth.

Being so close has allowed their children to form tight bonds.

"They have a saying, 'cousins first,' " Mullarkey said. "(Their cousins) always take precedence, and it really means a lot to me to see that. The first cousins are best friends."

Stefanie Scott can be reached at (262) 446-6618.