Father of 12 kids named '2008 Queensland Father of the Year'

Melbourne, Sept 2 : An Australian mining engineer has been named as the '2008 Queensland Father of the Year' for bringing up 12 highly successful children.

Kevin Rosengren has been named '2008 Queensland Father of the Year' by the Queensland Fathers' Day Council.

Rosengren is the father of 12 children, all with outstanding academic results.

Of the 12, four are lawyers, two mining engineers, two business people, one a doctor, one a physiotherapist, one a student nurse and one a student engineer.

Council chairman, the Reverend Allan Male, said that Rosengren was a role model.

"Dr Rosengren attributes his children's amazing academic success to a close and cooperative home environment and no television," The Australian quoted Male, as saying.

"This large family is even more remarkable in that Kevin and (and wife) Noelene were foster carers to many young children, providing crisis care for varying periods of time," he added.

The council also named 96-year-old public speaker John Brown as Grandfather of the Year.

He has been honoured as a fine father and grandfather and an inspirational contributor to the lives of many people through the public speaking organisation Rostrum.

"Some of our leading politicians, judges, business people, teachers and journalists have benefited from his instruction and counsel over several generations," said Male.

ANI