Published: August 29, 2009 11:43 am      

Siblings reunited after 50 years

By Brenda Tollett

Associate Editor



After having been separated for more than 50 years, Mark Keith Farris of Ada and his sister, Dorothy Marilyn Dawson, were recently reunited.

"Our mother left us on the side of the road near the Georgia line," Dawson said in an interview with the Hammond, (La.) Daily Star. "We never knew why."

At the time, Farris, Dawson and two brothers ranged in age 2 to 10 years old. Dawson said the children were picked up by a truck driver and taken to a truckstop. A Catholic priest later picked them up and took them to a children's home in New Orleans. "I remember it was Christmas time," Dawson said.

The children were later taken to a welfare office in Amite, La., where they were split up and sent to different homes. Farris was adopted and his name changed from Mark Evans Dawson to Mark Keith Farris.

Farris and Dawson spent most of their childhood within 50 miles of each other. Although their paths crossed many times, they never met.

At age 16, Farris left home and moved around a lot before eventually setting in Ada, Okla. Farris said he had considered changing his name back to Dawson, but decided against it.

In the meantime, Dawson began searching for her siblings. However, unaware of her brother's adoption, her searches for Mark Evans Dawson were unsuccessful.

After her father's death, Dawson discovered contact information for a sister, Ronda, whom she had never met. That information led Dawson to an aunt in Odum, Ga.

"It was Ronda who told me about Aunt Faye (O'Quinn) in Odum, Ga.," Dawson said.

In the meantime, Farris' wife, Linda, was conducting her own search for her husband's birth family.

She joined the Pontotoc County Historical and Genealogical Society and began online searches for her husband's family history. Her search led to Faye O'Quinn, a relative of Farris and Dawson.

After years of searching, Farris and Dawson were talking to each other on the phone within minutes of their conversations with O'Quinn. They met face-to-face Aug. 5 and Dawson visited Ada last week.

"I was just so happy to see her," Farris said.

Dawson and Farris have found the graves of their biological parents, Clifford Dupont Dawson and Dorothy M. Dawson at Willamette National Cemetery in Portland, Ore.

They have also located brothers Leroy and Harold. However, they are till looking for another brother, Clifford "Skipper," who was named after their father.

Farris said anyone having information about Clifford "Skipper" Dawson, can phone him or his wife at 580-559-2583, 559-2001 or 559- 2562.