JACKSON WOMAN DISCOVERS SISTER

This photo of George Brennac in his St. Louis store -- with meat market in the rear -- was one of the clues Mary Brennac Peters and Scherrie Brennac used to ascertain that they were sisters.

For 59 years Mary Brennac Peters believed she was an only child. For more than 48 years Scherrie Brennac, usually living just a few hours away, believed the same thing.

It was not until Peters' son hooked her up to the Internet this spring, though, that events began conspiring to bring the two not only long-lost, but unknown sisters together.

"I had had it about 10 days and was just playing with it when I did a search for 'Brennac,'" Peters explained. "At first I came up with three entries -- all in French. I played with it some more and got 20 entries."

One was an on-line application form to join a classic weapons and trap shooting organization. The contact person was a Scherrie Brennac. Peters was intrigued.

"I had never seen anyone else with that name," she said. "Every time I've been to a big city, I've always checked the phone books for 'Brennacs," but never found any.

"I know my eyes had to pop five inches out of my head when I saw her name. I was so excited."

Since no phone number was given, Peters printed out the on-line form and mailed it March 16. Two nights later, Scherrie Brennac called and the detective work began.

"My parents were George and Viola Brennac," Peter said. "My parents divorced shortly after I was born and I knew very little about my father." It was only because someone clipped her father's obituary out of a St. Louis paper in 1957 and mailed it to her mother that she knew he was dead.

Scherrie Brennac had known even less about her father -- who was also named George. One daughter's birth certificate listed George as a butcher, the other a meat-cutter. Peters, meanwhile, had three small photos of her father. One showed him behind the counter of a small store/meat market he apparently owned in St. Louis.

The two women agreed to meet that Friday. There was little -- if any -- doubt as soon as they met.

"You could tell as soon as you saw them that they were sisters," said Kenneth Peters, who taught industrial arts for 32 years at Jackson Junior High. "There was no doubt about it."

"She looks exactly like I did 10 years ago," Peters agreed.

The final confirmation came when Scherrie's 80-year-old mother positively identified George Brennac's photos later that weekend.

How the two wives and daughters of George Brennac never knew about each other is almost as mysterious as the way the two sisters found each other. Brennac, both daughters had always been told, immigrated from Europe (Bosnia or Germany) with his parents as a boy -- probably around 1910. Peters had always been told that her paternal grandparents are buried somewhere in New York.

George Brennac, considerably older than both wives, was apparently a smooth-talking, charming man, but less than an ideal husband. The marriage with Peters' mother lasted about two years, while the marriage to Scherrie Brennac's mother lasted a mere two months.

"Nobody talked about it," Peters said. "They were both bad marriages for both women and it just wasn't discussed."

Apparently Brennac did not know his second wife was pregnant when they divorced. A lawyer who contacted Peters' mother shortly after George Brennac's death, said that there were no other heirs. This puzzles Peters, who has examined her sister's St. Louis birth certificate.

"They must have really done a thorough search," she quipped.

Ironically, Scherrie Brennac's mother had seen an obituary for Peters' mother, but had assumed they were no relation.

The two sisters (or, technically speaking, half-sisters) have already visited each other's homes and look forward to a special relationship.

"It's really been exciting," Peters said. "There were so many coincidences that had to happen for us to find each other. We're really looking forward to making up for lost time."

Peters is still stunned by the sudden and totally unexpected events of March, 1999.

"To think that I had a sister who lived right off the highway on the way to Washington," said Peters, who, along with her husband, grew up in Washington, Mo. "We had passed within sight of her house for years whenever we visited Washington. It's just unreal.

"To think that I'd find her, being a novice on the computer like I am. It was just meant to be. I still have goose bumps and chills, thinking about it."

The weekend that the sisters were reunited is obviously a day neither will forget.

"That was probably the most momentous day of my life," Peters said. "That's taking nothing away from my wedding or the birth of my children; but with those, I had time to prepare for them. This was just a jolt out of the blue. Nothing compares to it.

"Some people save said to be cautious about reunions. There is no bitterness here, though; no one gave up a child.

"I'm 59 and I'm just finding out I have a sister. It gives me a validation that there is another side to me."