Dean Karau history: All 12 kids in Kewanee's Van Coutren clan signed up to fight in WWII

She was described as having “a fine sense of humor.” She most certainly did.

In late 1943, former Kewaneean Emma Van Coutren had just finished writing her weekly letter to each of her children serving in the military during World War II.

She then decided to pen another letter, this one to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. She advised FDR, “I am sorry to inform you, Mr. President, that the source of supply is now exhausted. Selective Service will have to look elsewhere.”

In response, the president wrote: “It is an admirable record. I congratulate you upon your family’s demonstration of practical patriotism.”

What in heaven’s name was that exchange about?

Well, Emma and her husband, Leo Van Coutren, had 12 children, and each of them served their country in the war. And with her fine sense of humor, she told the president that they had no more children to give.

Six of the Van Coutren kids served in the Navy – Victor, Vincent, Paul, John, Joseph, and Cyril. Thomas was in the army, James in the Marines, and Leo in the U.S. Merchant Marine. Rita, Adine, and Helen were in the Women’s Army Corps.

Leo Van Coutren, one of 16 children, was born in Belgium in 1880. Seven of his siblings died in infancy in Belgium, and the balance of the family emigrated to the United States in 1885. By the early 1890s, they were living on West Fourth St. in Kewanee.

Leo and his brothers were active in sports, playing lots of baseball around town. Leo considered himself the best left-handed shortstop in Kewanee. He also raced bicycles and played handball, among other sports.

In 1901, after a short stint in Duluth, Minnesota, Leo returned to Kewanee to work at the Lay & Lyman department store, where he began taking on responsibility for product displays and eventually became the store’s window display manager.

Emma Maguire was born in New York in 1884. Her family moved to Kewanee before 1900, and Emma developed a reputation for having a fine singing voice. She also worked at Lay & Lyman.

In 1903, Leo and Emma were married in Kewanee. By 1905, they started their family on Roosevelt Avenue. Helen was born in Kewanee in 1905, followed by Joseph and Cyril in 1906, and Leo in 1909.

An opportunity in Decatur led the Van Coutren family to move from Kewanee in 1910. But a year later, another opportunity led to a move to Brookfield, Missouri, where they would live as the family grew. The family, however, still stayed in touch with friends in and around Kewanee.

In Brookfield, Leo continued working in window trimming for department stores. In fact, Leo became a prize-winning window display designer, and by 1913 had gained a substantial reputation, winning 1st prize and a gold cup at the 1907 Window Trimmer’s Convention; 1st prize for the best Interior  Display at the Window Trimming Convention in 1913; 1st prize at the Boston Decorative Supply Co. Contest; 1st prize at the Jap-a-lac Window Contest; honorable mention at the Merchants’ Record & Show Window Contest; 4th and 5th prizes at the Standard Pattern Co. Contest; 3rd prize at the Economist Xmas Contest; and 5th prize at the Economist Embroidery Contest.

And, the Van Coutren family continued to grow. Emma gave birth to James in 1912, Thomas in 1914, Adine in 1915, John in 1916, Paul in 1918, Vincent in 1919, Rita in 1921, and Victor in 1923. Whew!

The Van Coutren children began joining the military in 1933, when Joseph “did a hitch with the Navy and liked to fine,” Emma said. Just prior to Pearl Harbor, Joseph then persuaded Vincent and John that “something was cooking,” and they both joined the Navy together. Emma soon learned that “[a]fter Pearl Harbor there was no stopping them. Pretty soon they even stopped asking me, they’d just mention it casually. When the girls started to go, that was the beginning of the end.”

But Leo and Emma were supportive of the military in general and their children in particular. Both worked to sell war bonds.

In fact, Emma became a pseudo-celebrity in the process. She traveled to New York, making appearances on radio – and even on early television – to ask the nation to buy the bonds, appearing with movie stars and other celebrities in the effort.

The magazine Variety, however, was critical of a segment involving Emma which aired on WOR-DuMont Television in New York:

“[The host] used Mrs. Van Coutren, mother with 13 children in uniform, for a sob appeal; this was followed by a tableau of service men and women that was faded-on as she finished her talk.”

In 1944, Emma was named Mother of the Year by the Mother’s Day Commemorative League of America. That brought more notoriety to Emma. Her story and photos appeared in newspapers across the nation, as did photos and stories of the Van Coutren children’s military callings.

Emma even lived in New York for a while when her fame gave her an opportunity to see at least some of her children when the media coverage led to their being able to join mom in the Big Apple. At the time, Emma said she was “on a leave of absence from her husband in order to see more of her children.”

When World War II ended, all of the Van Coutren children came home safely. All went on to productive lives, while the lives of Leo and Emma returned to normal. Emma was employed in a local store where, by the time she retired in 1972, she had become its co-manager.

Leo died in 1973. Two of his children preceded him in death. A grandson described him as “a sweet man, a dapper dresser, a devout Catholic, with a sharp wit.”

Emma passed away in 1988, just short of her 99th birthday. Three of her children preceded her in death.

One of Emma’s grandsons told the story that “in 1982 the family held a large 100th birthday celebration . . . She had everyone convinced that she was actually born in 1882!”

Such was Emma Van Coutren’s fine sense of humor.

This article originally appeared on Star Courier: All 12 kids in Kewanee's Van Coutren clan signed up to fight in WWII