FAMILY THANKFUL FOR FREEDOM

For a Cape Girardeau woman and her son and daughter-in-law, there's a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving the release of a relative after 6 years of captivity in Lebanon.

The relative, Thomas Sutherland, 60, was released Nov. 18 by his Shiite Muslim kidnappers, along with British clergyman Terry Waite.

Sutherland's daughter, Ann, is married to Ray Keller, a professor of zoology at the University of California-Berkeley and a 1967 graduate of Southeast Missouri State University. Ray Keller, 46, is the son of Irma Keller of Cape Girardeau Route 2 and the late Curtis Keller.

"That was the best news I have heard in a long time," Irma Keller said Wednesday, recalling the news of Sutherland's release last week. "We were really hoping and praying for this."

She said she was particularly happy for her son and daughter-in-law. "I was really happy for them because they had waited so long and just had hoped for him to be released soon."

She added that Sutherland's release from captivity makes this Thanksgiving a special one.

Sutherland is spending this Thanksgiving at his daughter's home in Berkeley, Calif. Ray and Ann Keller have a 4-year-old daughter, Simone, whom Sutherland saw for the first time Monday when he arrived in San Francisco.

Ann, 32, is more than 8 months pregnant.

Sutherland told reporters Wednesday in Berkeley that he's glad to be home but sorry that other hostages remain behind in Lebanon. He expressed sympathy for the three remaining American hostages, and said, "We are just a little sad that they can't have this kind of Thanksgiving yet."

Irma Keller said she has never met Sutherland. She said that at the time of her son's marriage about five years ago, Sutherland was already being held as a hostage in Lebanon.

Sutherland was dean of agriculture at the American University in Beirut when he was kidnapped on June 9, 1985.

Keller said she is anxious to meet Sutherland. "I hope to go out after the baby is born, and I'm sure I'll get to see him."

Keller said she plans to talk by telephone with her son and daughter-in-law today and her daughter-in-law's family, who will be together for Thanksgiving. "We definitely will (talk), and then I'll get to talk to all of her family."

Said Keller, "I'm glad they are all together and can have their family reunion."

Throughout the hostage ordeal, Ann was optimistic that her father would be released. "She was very hopeful all the time," said Keller. "She always was hopeful she would get to see him again. `Some day soon,'" she would always say."

Sutherland's release also was welcome news to John Hinni, dean of the School of University Studies at Southeast Missouri State University.

A mentor and friend of Ray Keller, Hinni said, "It's an emotional trip for me. I've been pulling for him (Sutherland) to get out of there."

Hinni said he and his wife were "just delighted" when Sutherland was freed.

Hinni said Ray Keller was a science student of his. "He was the best student I probably ever had." Keller has since become a renowned embryologist, he said.

The university dean said that he has visited with Ray and Ann Keller on the couple's summer trips to Cape Girardeau.

"They come every summer and visit Mrs. Keller and at that time we normally get together," recalled Hinni. "They were here in June."

Hinni said Ann and Ray seldom talked about the hostage situation. "When I first met Ann and discovered that her father was a hostage, she said it was an agonizing problem, so gradually over the years we just have not said much about it."

Hinni said, "Ann once said the thing she hated the most was that her father had such an active mind and he was not in a position to write and have access to books, and that was a terrible thing.

"That was her major concern about him, other than health," said Hinni.

"I took some pictures of his (Sutherland's) granddaughter and I am going to send them to him," said Hinni. "I am anxious to meet him or even write him and say hello."

Hinni said that Sutherland's release makes this a special Thanksgiving. "This is a win for our side," he said.

Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press.