OCEANS APART

Planted, uprooted and replanted... it's a good analogy for what has transpired between Plains resident Jo Ellen Morris and new-found brother Rodney Dillon, a native Australian.

It all started roughly 75 years ago when Morris's father, Roy Holt, Sr., served in the Navy. In February of 1945, Holt was one of many who sailed the U.S. Muster Rolls to Brisbane, Australia. Interestingly, it was here where Dillon was born, nine months after the U.S. Muster Rolls docked.

"My sister Anne died in a car accident in 1968," said Dillon, who was 23 years old and had obtained a copy of his birth certificate at that time. "I was more than surprised when I found out that my father was not my father."

Dillon had spent most of his younger years away from his parents attending boarding schools and knew very little about his ancestry and relatives. He had always hoped he would learn more about his blood father and hoped his parents would share more information. Unfortunate for Dillon, that never happened. "My stepfather died in 1986 and my mother in 2004 without telling me," Dillon commented.

He never lost hope of learning his story. In 2009, Dillon's first cousin contacted him and told him she was going to research familial lineages.

"I was delighted, as maybe now I would find out who my father was," Dillon expressed with optimism. "Imagine my surprise when she informed me, she knew he was an American serviceman, but didn't know his name." He anticipated his search to be over at this point and thought it impossible to find any further information about his biological father.

Where there is a will, there is a way, and Dillon was determined to find his lineage. He reached out to a friend who was an expert in performing ancestry searches. He informed her that his father was American. Other than that, he knew nothing. She had suggested Dillon send his DNA off and allow her to do an ancestry search through her AncestryDNA account.

After a bit of waiting he heard the news, "'Rod, we have hit the jackpot! You have 611 hits, more than I have ever seen,'" Dillon shared what his friend had told him.

Shortly before this revelation, in August 2015, across the vast Pacific Ocean, in America, Morris was also interested in her ancestral lineage, and submitted her DNA through ancestry.com. She ended up finding a cousin she was not aware of, but that was about it.

In Australia, Dillon was researching his 611 DNA hits. At the top of Dillon's search was Morris, revealing they had a strong DNA connection. It was unknown what that relationship was, though it was certain they were first cousins, at the very least. After putting together links of several grandparents and brothers and sisters, Dillon's friend confirmed that Morris and Dillon were in fact brother and sister. Dillon eventually received Morris's contact information through a second cousin who he had located through the search.

Using extra caution and taking utmost care, Dillon reached out to Morris through Ancestry. "Any information at all would be greatly appreciated, as the end intention here is just to know his biological heritage, not to disrupt anyone's life," Dillon's friend carefully wrote, unsure of how Morris would react when contacting her.

Problem was, Morris had quit reading her AncestryDNA messages because she claims they send a lot of advertisements. She never saw these messages and had no idea Dillon was trying to contact her.

That was until July 2018 when Morris's brother Johnny, who had received Dillon's outreach, phoned her. "'Jo Ellen, I do not know how to tell you this, so I guess I will just say it,'" Morris repeated what her brother told her. "'In February 1945, Dad's ship docked in Brisbane Australia. Nine months later our brother Rodney was born.'" Morris said she just started laughing when she realized she had an even older brother.

Dillon's messages were not taken offensively. In fact, "nothing could be further from the truth," Morris emphasized, sharing that she and her brother were completely ecstatic about having an older brother they never knew existed. "To say I was excited would be an understatement," Dillon said, "and the fact that they both accepted me was unreal. My 50-year search was over, and I now know who my father was, John 'Roy' Holt, and as a bonus I have a brother and sister."

The newly united family saw each other for the first time through a Facebook Messenger video chat organized by Morris. "We now talk by video Messenger on a regular basis and I eagerly look forward to our conversations," Dillon shared.

He and his wife, Lorraine, are planning to visit Plains next year and finally have that long-awaited, in-person visit with his siblings; the family reunion that has taken 50 years to develop.

"To sum up this, it has been and continues to be a wonderful experience," Dillon shared. "I look forward to the day when we all meet in person. That will be something out of this world!"