WHAT ONCE WAS LOST
Mark Byington, from left, Jean Fish, Faye Viergutz and Mervin Cross stand outside 1456 Montague St. in Regina after an emotional reunion this week. After decades of searching, Jean finally met her brothers Mark and Mervin and her sister Faye in person. In
Jean Fish sighed in relief as she embraced her long-lost sister and brothers in Regina — a frantic eight-decade long search for family finally at an end.
“I never thought it would happen,” Jean said. “Right to the last minute, I thought, ‘It’s going to fall through.’ ”
But after months of planning, the reunion of four “secret” siblings and their families began Thursday.
“I’m just glad I don’t have to be under a caragana bush today,” the 86-year-old said Friday morning as she and her siblings stood near the place where she’d been abandoned as a baby in 1931.
Jean has told the story of her unusual start to life many times — often to elicit information about her natural parents.
She was only two days old when she was wrapped in a blanket and quilt and abandoned behind a caragana hedge at 1456 Montague St. in Regina. Two 11-year-olds heard her cries on Sunday, Aug. 9, 1931, and she was taken to the Salvation Army Home For Unwed Mothers, near Montague and Dewdney Avenue.
Initially in foster care, Fish was adopted by a childless couple when she was a year old. Despite a happy childhood, she always wondered who her parents were and why they abandoned her.
For years, she desperately tried to find the missing branches of her family tree. She finally found them earlier this year, and they made plans for a Regina reunion. Jean travelled with her daughter Sandra Bonney from their homes in Collingwood, Ont., to meet Jean’s siblings Mark Byington from Edmonton, Faye Viergutz from Vernon, B.C., and Mervin Cross from Saskatoon.
Mark and Faye arrived at the Regina International Airport on the same plane Thursday. “This is a special, special occasion,” Faye said.
When Mark looked towards the baggage area and saw a small group gathered, he recognized every family member because they’d electronically shared photos.
He’d already met Faye and Mervin nine years ago. But it was his first encounter with Jean.
Like Faye, Mark called the experience surreal. “It’s a remarkable memory. Something that I will never forget. Something that I thought would never happen but it has and it’s a miracle,” he said.
In Mark’s adopted family, he was the youngest of four. “In my birth family, I’m the oldest of six, which is pretty amazing,” said the 87-year-old.
Standing outside the NorthWest Territorial Government Buildings on Dewdney Avenue as the snow softly fell on Friday morning, Mark was moved to finally see his birthplace.
“It’s hard to believe,” he said. “It’s a fact I know, but it’s something that’s a little difficult to absorb. It’s a wonderful experience, from beginning to end. And as Faye said, ‘It’s wonderful, but it’s sad too when you think about it.’ ”
The family’s origins and efforts to find each other are a twisted tale, not unlike that caragana bush under which Jean was first discovered. In 1978, Jean launched a media search, including a story in the Leader-Post that described her unorthodox beginnings and ended with her contact information. The story connected her with the children who had found her five decades earlier and the trio became fast friends.
Still, Jean longed to know about her birth parents.
Her break came when she received an Ancestry.ca kit from her grandchildren for her 85th birthday in August 2016. Jean was thrilled when testing revealed potential matches for first and second cousins.
“When we emailed those contacts, we were able to connect with three living siblings,” said Jean’s daughter, Sandra. “It was something we’ve only dreamed of — we’d given up hope.”
Joining the siblings on the trip to Regina were their spouses, some of their children, grandchildren and cousins from across Canada. Sandra got emotional as she looked at the large group of people laughing and talking at a family member’s home in Harbour Landing and marvelled at how many long-lost relatives shared similar facial features.
Looking at a black-andwhite photo of Faye when she was around 10 years old, Jean thought it was her as a child.
“We’ve been sharing lots of stories and looking at each other a lot,” Sandra said. “It feels like we’ve known them forever already ... There’s a closeness, a bond already.”
All share a link with Evelyn and Allan Cross, a couple of teens who were unmarried when Mark and Jean were born. Days after Jean’s birth, Evelyn and Allan tied the knot and went on to have four more children: Faye, Mervin, Dean and Glenys.
The younger children didn’t have a clue they had a sister and brother.
That revelation didn’t come until 1990 when Faye’s mother dropped a bombshell. Evelyn told her stunned daughter she’d given birth to a baby girl in a field, and then left her on the steps of the Salvation Home For Unwed Mothers in Regina.
Beyond that, Evelyn offered no more information and opposed Faye’s suggestion that they look for the child. Evelyn made Faye promise she’d keep the family secret — a pact she kept until after her mother died in 2004.
After her mother’s death, Faye felt free to tell Dean and Mervin they had a sister, and she wanted to track her down. Neither brother took part in the search, but Faye was determined to find the sister she never knew.
In June 2008, Faye went to Social Services in Regina to look for documents on her sister, only to leave empty-handed.
However, her search wasn’t fruitless. Records led her to Mark, who was born in 1930 at the Salvation Army Home and put up for adoption.
Faye was confused — she was looking for a sister, but instead found a brother. She sent Mark a letter via Social Services asking for contact, and he responded positively.
But the discovery was bittersweet — four days later her brother Dean died.
It was the family’s second immediate loss. Their sister, Glenys, who was born with cognitive challenges, died at Valley View Centre in Moose Jaw in December 2014.
Arriving in Regina after an icy drive from Saskatoon, Mervin’s eyes filled with tears. He said reuniting with his siblings was a miracle.
“We lose a brother, we gain a brother. We lose a sister, we gain a sister ... I just wish my other brother and sister were here to see it, but unfortunately they’re not ... It’s two more in our family. It’s fantastic. I love it!”
Jean and Faye had chatted on the phone a couple of times prior to meeting at the Regina International Airport, but seeing each other in person was “unbelievable,” they said.
“I think the story is very inspiring for people who are still searching for missing links to their families,” Sandra said. “Don’t give up hope ... It’s a dream come true.”