Double the Love

ST. HENRY - Doris and Dolores Bruggeman have done almost everything in tandem throughout their 90 years of twin-hood.

Born March 4, 1930, as Doris and Dolores Barhorst, the twin sisters grew up in Maria Stein in a family of 12. Doris, the elder of the two by five minutes, said they grew up working on the family farm and would work together at a canning factory in the summer.

The sisters said they've never really butted heads or argued. The two have always been in sync and agreed they have a kind of "twin telepathy." They said they can occasionally sense how the other is feeling and finish each other's sentences.

To say the two have similar taste is an understatement. They arrived dressed to the nines for their interview in matching pink scalloped blouses. Doris seemed to accessorize a bit more, with gold hoop earrings that matched a gold necklace and rings.

The twins have always loved bingo, a game they continue to play at The Gardens at St. Henry, where they share a suite. They also loved to dance growing up, often going to dances on Saturday nights whenever they could.

One Saturday at a dance hall in Egypt the two met handsome twin brothers Virgil and Werner Bruggeman. The Bruggemans also liked to cut a rug, the sisters said, so Doris coupled up with Virgil and Dolores danced the night away with Werner.

The twin couples eventually married on a beautiful sunny day in a joint ceremony on April 18, 1951, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in McCartyville. The two couples hosted a daylong wedding celebration, with the ceremony starting at 8:30 a.m. followed by breakfast, some celebrating, lunch, more celebrating, supper and then even more revelry for good measure. Dolores chuckled and said if she had to do it again, she'd forget the daylong celebration in exchange for something shorter.

The women said many of their twin-related activities were happy coincidences. They didn't plan to marry twin brothers; it just happened. A joint ceremony made sense at the time because it was cheaper and easier to hold all at once, they said.

The couples decided to build identical homes near each other in Maria Stein. The sisters said they simply liked the same style of house and built the homes down the road from each other because they rarely went a day without seeing or speaking with one another.

In yet another strange twist of fate, the pair gave birth to both their first child and second child on the same day at the same hospital on Feb. 1, 1952 and June 18, 1953. They said they didn't plan to share giving birth, let alone on two separate occasions. They chalked it up to another happy coincidence.

Doris and Virgil Bruggeman went on to have eight children while Dolores and Werner Bruggeman had 11. While they didn't have any twins themselves, Dolores has three sets of twin grandchildren, and her sister has one set of twin grandchildren. Twins are rumored to skip a generation, they said, so they weren't too surprised they didn't have twins themselves.

The sisters have a combined 211 descendants. Doris has 28 grandchildren, 56 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild. Dolores has 44 grandchildren and 63 great-grandchildren.

They said they often hosted bingo nights at each other's houses, and their husbands would play violin or harmonica. Music would play throughout the night and the kids would stay up late to dance on the patio if the weather allowed.

"I love the idea that I've lived to 90 years old," Dolores said. "I never thought I'd be 90."

While their husbands have passed, Doris and Dolores Bruggeman said they are happy to celebrate their approaching birthdays with their large family.

The twins will have an open house from 1-4 p.m. Sunday at the Maria Stein American Legion hall. People also are welcome to send cards to the birthday girls at 522 Western Ave., St. Henry.

If you go:
WHAT: Doris and Dolores Bruggemans' 90th birthday open house
WHEN: 1-4 p.m. Sunday
WHERE: Maria Stein American Legion