Woman reunited with her birth mother
Published: August 14, 2005
Susan Kelley, with the help of family members, tried to find her birth mother in 1998. The search eventually ended in failure.
Little did she know that fate was on her side.
Seven years later, Kelley has been reunited with her birth mother thanks to a conversation with a co-worker.
A co-worker that ended up being a first cousin.
On Wednesday, Mary (Rangel Sharion) Stephan met her daughter for the first time at a family barbecue in Wood River. Stephan, of East Alton, had no idea her long-lost daughter would be attending.
“It was the surprise of my life,” Stephan said. “We just started crying and hugging. I just told her I was sorry (I had to give her up). I was forced to. I didn’t want to do it.”
“I was shocked and amazed we lived so close,” said Kelley, who resides in Granite City with her adopted mother.
Kelley said she and Stephan talked for hours about her health and her adopted family in the company of tearful family members.
“I told her I was well taken care of, that my adopted parents love me,” Kelley said.
Kelley and Stephan gathered Sunday in Wood River for another family outing. On Monday they spent time at an area motel with loved ones to talk and look over pictures. The get-together included Russ Hawks, Kelley’s fiance; Cindy Lowe, Kelley’s new-found aunt; new-found stepsister Chrissy Warix; and Anna Newell, Kelley’s first cousin.
Newell was the family member Kelley talked to at work. The discussion centered on family names.
Newell learned through the conversation that Rangel was a family name and Kelley was adopted. Newell told Lowe, her mother, about the name. It didn’t take Lowe long to realize that Stephan was most likely Kelley’s mother. Lowe then talked with her sister and later contacted Kelley.
“I’m thrilled to death my sister finally found her daughter. She’s so much like her that its like watching my sister grow up all over again,” Lowe said.
Wanda and the late John Kelley of Granite City adopted Susan at birth. She is a lifelong Granite City resident and a Granite City High School graduate. Kelley said her adopted parents never tried to hide the fact that she was adopted.
“They told me I was adopted and they didn’t want to lose me,” said Kelley, the mother of three.
Kelley said she first thought about finding her birth mother when was about 12 years old.
“It’s a dream come true. I can’t believe it happened after all these years. I was so young when I wanted to know,” Kelley said. “I plan to stay in contact with my mother. This means more seats at Christmas, Thanksgiving and other holidays.”
“Now I have a big sister I can blame stuff on,” Warix joked.
Hawks called the mother-daughter reunion a miracle and said it wouldn’t have happened without Newell.
“If she doesn’t do another good thing in her life, she’s guaranteed to go to heaven because of this,” he said.
Stephan said the whole experience was wonderful and heart warning and she was thrilled to learn she was a grandmother again.
“I can’t explain how happy I am now,” she said.
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