The Duncan Banner

Local News

July 6, 2009

Siblings reunite after 41 year separation

John Walker

DUNCAN — In 1968, Pat Hague, Debbie Batterton and Charles Manous Jr. met their half sister, Becky Magee, in California.

They all have the same father, but Magee had a different mother.

That was the first and last time all four were together — until recently when they and some of their respective children and grandchildren met at Halliburton Park in Duncan.

In all, about 30 members of their families showed up.

“It’s been real nice,” Magee said.

They plan to meet more in the future.

After the first meeting between the siblings 41 years ago, the siblings lost track of their half sister as they were only children at the time.

It wasn’t until Hague’s son, Roy Wilkerson Jr., became seriously involved with genealogy that contact was finally made with Magee again for the second time.

Wilkerson became interested in genealogy as a teenager when he would hear stories from his great-grandfather about the family history back to the 1800s.

His hobby led Wilkerson from one finding to another before he started to tackle the problem last year of where his aunt was located.

“I searched the Internet and public records,” he said. By coincidence, a search for an old family headstone intertwined with Wilkerson’s search for Magee.

A Dallas, Texas, newspaper covered the story of how Wilkerson found their 1800s-era family head stone from Sulphur that somehow ended up in Denton, Texas. Magee had previously moved to Royse City, Texas, and had read that story in the newspaper, but it didn’t click with her because Wilkerson is not the last name of her father, Charles Manous Sr.

During Wilkerson’s searching over the last year, he also became aware of another brother of the four siblings.

“We didn’t know of another sibling,” Wilkerson said. “Now we know there are five siblings.”

Wilkerson and the family have tried to make contact with the newfound sibling, but so far their outreach has remained fruitless. They also wonder whether there are other siblings they don’t know about.

“Dad was kind of a drifter,” Hague said.

The siblings’ father died in June of 1986 in the Arizona desert as he was traveling from California to Oklahoma.

He missed his bus in Phoenix and wandered outside to the freeway. He was found three weeks later under a tree with his boots and hat by his side. But while he was alive, he made sure to stay in contact with his children, rare as it was, although he seemed to know what was always happening with the siblings.

“Somehow, he kept up with all of us,” Hague said. “It’s really amazing, the more you think about it. We don’t know how he did it.”

Hague now lives in Duncan, Batterton lives near the traditional family homestead in Sulphur and Manous lives in Ada.

Text Only
Local News
  • DALC gets grant from Dollar General

    Duncan Area Literacy Council will be able to buy some more curriculum for its program with a $3,000 grant it was awarded by Dollar General Literacy Foundation this week.

    May 23, 2012

  • Library prepares for summer reading program

    It might be called a reading program, but there will be far more to do this summer at the Duncan Public Library than just reading.

    May 23, 2012

  • Fame Academy students Nathan Self, Mallory Anderson, Hayden James, Keeton Ruiz, Brianna Coria, Jordan Abbe, Stefeno Ruiz, Adam Baldwin and Leroy Newcomb show off the mural they helped create at the school. They’re gonna live forever

    Through art, the students of Fame Academy made a colorful impression on the town of Meridian.

    May 23, 2012 2 Photos

  • Empire FFA chapter holds awards banquet

    Empire FFA held its annual awards banquet May 8 with a buffet provided by FFA families and the entire chapter.

    May 23, 2012

  • Council discusses property buffer for hotel

    To counteract the removal of a buffer of trees, the Duncan City Council on Tuesday approved a site development plan for the Apollo Estates to create a new kind of buffer.

    May 23, 2012

  • Commission tables water district items

    The board of Stephens County Commissioners tabled bids on two services for the Stephens County Rural Water District 4 for the second consecutive week at the request of the water district.

    May 22, 2012

  • Weekend storm left many in area without power

    The city at large lit up Sunday morning around 8 a.m., with lightning strikes illuminating areas for a split-second at a time.

    May 22, 2012

  • Fire department fundraiser raises more than $12,000

    The Duncan Fire Department raised more than $12,500 during its Fill the Boot fundraiser May 17-18. Funds go to the Muscle Dystrophy Association in Wichita Falls and helps local patients.

    May 22, 2012

  • Dean Backr, left, and Joseph Lujan Carnival crews

    Warmer weather and school letting out means more time for fun in the sun. One of the season’s first opportunities is with the Duncan Lion’s Club Carnival.

    May 22, 2012 2 Photos

  • Arrest made in hit and run

    A Marlow man is in police custody after admitting to law enforcement he was involved with a hit-and-run accident that left the victim with major injuries.

    May 22, 2012