Missing sister 'found' after Sidmouth Herald appeal

A WOMAN, who last September appealed for help in tracking down the sister she hadn t seen since a teenager, has managed to visit her grave after a Herald reader saw an appeal for help.

A WOMAN, who last September appealed for help in tracking down the sister she hadn't seen since a teenager, has managed to visit her grave after a Herald reader saw an appeal for help.

Dorothy Ranger, 65, from Medstead, Hants, pulled out all the stops to help her mother Doris Dennis trace her sister Rose Wilson, who she last saw when she was 16.

The family was split up when a Miss Hall was made Rose's legal guardian when she was just 18 months old.

It was thought Rose may have been adopted by a family called Partridge, who lived in West Hill area of Ottery St Mary, and Doris lost touch with her in the late 1930s following a trip to Devon to see her.

Although she was too late to see her sister alive again, with the help of a Herald People Page reader, Doris was able to visit Rose's grave in Cullompton cemetery.

Dorothy wrote to thank a woman reader who solved the mystery of Rose's whereabouts.

"I received a call from a reader who, luckily, had seen the article in a shoe shop.

"The owner pointed out the article regarding Rose to the customer who knew Rose.

"It was such a lovely surprise to receive a phone call and to know that Rose had a very good life, after her parents died and the family separated.

"The lady said Rose had been evacuated to Ottery St Mary during World War II and lived with a local family who adopted Rose.

"They moved to Bristol in the late 1940s and lived there until 1987."

Rose was then offered a home by the woman's mother in Crediton, and after she died, Rose moved to Cullompton where, said Dorothy: "She was cared for by many wonderful and caring friends."

Rose died in December 2001, never having the chance to be re-united with her sister Doris.