Sally Army steps in to help find sister

AFTER losing touch with her sister in America more than 30 years ago, Pauline Waddelow never gave up hope of finding her again.

She even asked for the help of Cilla Black when she was hosting a popular TV programme reuniting families and friends, but was told she did not have sufficient information for researchers to work on.

Success came in the form of the Salvation Army who managed to find her relatives in Cumming, Georgia.

Mrs Waddelow had to face the devastating news her sister, Mary, had died two years previously, but now she is enjoying a visit from her sister's daughter, Cookie.

On Monday Cookie was enjoying meeting other relatives at her aunt's home in High School Close, March.

Mrs Waddelow, who was one of eight children, explained: "We were children when Mary married an American serviceman and went to live in America. She never came back to this country and when my mother died in 1970 we lost all contact.

"We tried to find her without success and then in November 2005 we decided to try again and we contacted the Salvation Army. They needed her birth certificate and marriage certificate which we got from King's Lynn where she was born and married. In December we had a letter saying they had traced my sister's daughter."

Cookie, who is also called Mary, said: "When they contacted me I thought it was a hoax, but they gave some family details and I knew it was for real."

On contacting eachother, Mrs Waddelow was told that her sister and her husband had died. She said: "It was a dreadful shock because I had always believed I would see her again."

Mrs Waddelow and her husband, Fred, went out to Georgia and were able to visit the graves of Mary and Ed.

Cookie said: "Pauline looks so much like my mum. Mum always talked about her family back home and showed us photographs. It is great to meet everyone.