The year was 1971. Flare jeans were in, Carole King felt the earth move under her feet, and Americans said goodbye to “The Ed Sullivan Show.” On an Army base in North Syracuse, N.Y., where it was Army brats against the rest of the world – some say that hasn’t changed – 17-year-old Joe Pentecost fell in love for the first time.

Now Joe is in his 70s, and until four months ago, he never knew his 15-year-old sweetheart Jan had given birth to a girl and put her up for adoption. She never knew until recently why he left so abruptly.

“I answered the phone before Christmas and the voice on the other end asked me if  I was Joe Bob Pentecost Jr.” Joe said. “People don’t call me Joe Bob around here.”

The conversation led to an out-of-ordinary family get-together. Shawna Walker from Billings, Montana and Jan Thomas of Vernal, Utah, met up for the first time and traveled to DeQuincy to meet Joe, who is currently in hospice, and the rest of the family.

“I had wonderful parents,” Shawna said. “My mother was a social worker and I wonder if her work – you wouldn’t believe what some children go through – is what kept her from beating me when she probably should have.”

Shawna knew early on that her mom was not her birth mother. “They told me and my brother that we were adopted as soon as we were old enough to grasp the concept.”

Always curious, Shawna took the Ancestry DNA test almost as soon as it became available. Joe took it  only three years ago. She saw he was a match, but it took years for her to work up the courage to call him, she said.

“Every adopted child’s fear, fear of rejection,” explained Joe’s 33-year-old daughter Lacie. She is also adopted, and was Joe’s only child until now.  Lacie knows her birth mother and much like her new sister, she has discovered the name and the location of her birth father using Ancestry.com.

“When dad told me I had an older sister, I was shocked, but  not surprised,” she said.

During Joe and Shawna’s first conversation, Shawna was able to find out her birth mother’s first and maiden name. Then the family tree kept growing. She  located someone she thought might be a brother. The location and name was right, at least.

“I emailed him,” she said. “He told his mother that someone was trying to scam her. She had never told her sons about giving up a child.”

Jan recounted breaking the news to her son. “Then he mentioned the name Joe Bob Pentecost, and I said, ummm, that might be your sister.”

Jan never knew until recently why Joe left so abruptly.  She didn’t even know that she was pregnant when Joe’s father had been transferred to Korea. The transfer meant Joe’s family would be moving to Louisiana. Joe had to move ahead of the rest of his family to register for his senior year and start school in time to graduate as planned.

Jan’s father was also transferred about that time. He went to Vernal, Utah and wouldn’t talk to Jan after she “shamed” the family.

She was sent to a Morman couple’s home in Salt Lake City. As soon as her baby was born, she was taken away. Jan never got the chance to see her, to hold her.

“I didn’t think I’d ever see her,” she mused. “She looks like me, don’t you think?

Joe thinks Shawna looks like his side of the family. Plus they have many things in common. Both own a six-toed black and white cat. Both have worked with disabled children. Both have had an appreciation for muscle cars. Joe and Jan have loving spouses in common that encouraged the meeting.

Joe, Shawna and Jan agree. They would have enjoyed the chance to meet sooner, but they know the timing is exactly as it should be.