Half sisters in Missouri reunited after 60 years

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- The death of a Poplar Bluff woman's estranged mother led to a reunion of family members that was more than a half-century in the making.

Cleo Emery, 68, met her younger sister, Sandy Jaspering, 64, of Foley, Mo., for the first time in their lives last month.

While Emery was aware she had two half sisters, in addition to her brother John, whom she grew up with, Jaspering did not know she had any other siblings. That changed when both sisters discovered that Norma Bart, their biological mother, had died.

"Norma was like Elizabeth Taylor," Emery said. "Our mother was basically a womb donor, and had four children that she left with their biological fathers."

After Bart left Emery during early childhood, they only reunited once 15 years ago, when Bart was tracked down in Florida.

"I wanted to know who I am," Emery said.

She traveled south but said her mother was not interested in establishing a relationship.

"I was told that she had a nervous breakdown when she was 17, and was emotionally immature," Emery said.

About a year ago, Emery decided she would give Bart a call, only to find that the phone was disconnected.

"She would have been about 85," Emery said, "so I figured she must have been either dead or in a nursing home."

That summer, Emery's daughter, Paula Gowen, was pregnant with her second child and decided it was time to do some more research into her family tree. She discovered that Bart had died in 2006 and left her estate with a church.

Gowen contacted a church official and was told that "a daughter from Missouri" had come by to pick up Bart's keepsakes that were left.

"I replied, 'No, my mother has not been to Florida,'" Gowen said.

That's when she discovered one of Emery's sisters lived in the St. Louis area.

Months prior, Jaspering also found out Bart had died in 2006, with help from a police detective.

"I had a phone number I called and it rang, rang, rang and then a message came on saying it was disconnected, and I thought, 'Oh boy, here we go again with the search,'" Jaspering said. "I finally got in touch with one of her neighbors and took off to Florida."

While Emery was aware of Jaspering's existence, she did not know her sister's last name to begin trying to locate her. Gowen asked the church official for some contact information, initially to no avail.

"I grew teary eyed and said, 'You're talking about people's lives here,'" Gowen said. "'What am I supposed to tell my mother?' The lady must have felt sorry for me."

One day Jaspering heard a message on her answering machine from Gowen explaining the situation. Jaspering immediately called Emery.

"I talked and talked to Cleo," Jaspering said.

Last month, Jaspering and her husband Kenneth visited Emery's home in Poplar Bluff.

"My nieces were all there, and I could see them looking out the door," Jaspering said. "As I walked up the sidewalk, I could hear them all saying, 'Oh my gosh,' because they saw I looked like my mother."

Emery described her reaction.

"I just hugged Sandy so tight, as I felt her pain," she said. "I was so sorry for her, because I had my brother, but she had to hurt worse because she grew up all alone."

The sisters ate lunch and compared photos and other mementos of their family history. They made a pact to keep in touch.

"I thought, 'OK. We can rest now. Mother's gone. But we've got each other," Emery said. "'Let's appreciate the time God's given us.'"

Contrary to their mother's lifestyle, Jaspering raised three children and Emery seven.

"I always told my sons and daughters, keep your babies together and be a family," Emery said.

The search continues for the oldest half sister, Jane or Janie, with the maiden name Ketchum.