All 14 school-age LoCoco cousins attend the same Catholic grade school that one of their parents attended. (Submitted photo)
These days, it’s one thing for a kid to have 20 cousins. It’s another thing for those cousins to live in the same area. And it’s another remarkable thing for them all to belong to the same parish.
The LoCoco family takes that to an entirely new level at St. Mary’s Visitation School in Elm Grove, as all 14 of the 20 cousins who are of age to attend the school do exactly that.
“If there was a formula I could package and give to every Catholic school, I would,” said Courtney LoCoco of the special sauce that she believes is unique to St. Mary’s Visitation. She is the mother of seven of the 20 cousins and five of the 14 who attend the school. She married into the LoCoco family and saw the incredible connection that eight siblings keep.
Perhaps her brother-in-law Joe LoCoco, the oldest of the eight LoCoco siblings, names it well. He has four children at the school now.
“It’s easily the foundational Catholic teachings that get passed on to our kids. They go to Mass twice a week. They go to confession once a month,” Joe said, and parents find a lot of common ground.
“I wouldn’t say it’s homogenous, but everybody more or less wants to raise their kids in the faith and thinks pretty much the same way about the right way to raise children. The community is very solid because I think that there’s a lot of trust between all of the parents at St. Mary’s, that we all more or less are going to approach things the same way. And so that’s a big part of it.”
The LoCoco parents have plenty of their own ties to the parish and school, as they have their own experiences having gone to grade school within the same walls, worshiping during the same school Masses.
“A lot of the memories that I have, they have a tie to St. Mary’s, and so it’s very much just a part of my life,” Joe said. “I’ve just never felt the draw to go explore what else is out there, because everything that I have felt that I needed has been at St. Mary’s and the surrounding community.”
“Stability creates an environment for the Holy Spirit’s presence to really become manifest,” said Fr. John LoCoco, uncle of the cousins attending his alma mater and pastor of nearby St. John Vianney, Brookfield.
“When I think about signs of the Holy Spirit — peace, love, joy, understanding — that was at my parish. If we think of what the Holy Spirit might want to invite us into, trying to make a discernment about what God’s asking us to do, what the gospel is compelling us to do, while being frightened, anxious or doubtful, it’s really tough. When you’re in a safe and stable place, it’s so consoling as a kid.”
The LoCocos say they have the most cousins of any extended family attending St. Mary’s Visitation, but there are numerous sets of extended families within the school.
“What’s funny is there are many cousin cohorts at SMV. We’re not outliers. I think we have the most enrolled number-wise, but there are several,” Courtney said. “Lots of people send their cousin flocks to SMV.”
“We’re not the oddballs. There are a ton of alumni who have returned with their families to the school,” Joe said. “With the number of people that went to St. Mary then, came back and said, ‘Okay, I’m going to have my kids go to this school as well,’ I bet it’s over 20.”
