Ratcliff local reunited with family through 23 and Me

Paige Eichkorn, Fort Smith Times Record
·2 min read

Susan Freeman-Smith, a Ratcliff resident, has found her mother’s birth family thanks to a 23andMe DNA kit. She met one of her aunts last fall and she recently met her uncle and his family in Wisconsin for the first time.

Susan Freeman-Smith with her aunt Karlene Wilson-Hess and uncle Jimmie Wilson.
Susan Freeman-Smith with her aunt Karlene Wilson-Hess and uncle Jimmie Wilson.

Freeman-Smith's mother was adopted as a child when her parents were stationed in the military in Parmesans, Germany. The family had assumed her mother was 100% German.

Freeman-Smith was always curious about her mother’s family, so she decided to purchase a 23andMe DNA kit in 2014. In 2018, she matched with a predicted cousin but they could never figure out how they were related.

A little over a month ago, her “cousin” reached out. He had figured out that he was actually Freeman-Smith's uncle, so her mother was half-American.

Freeman-Smith was thrilled to find her uncle as well as two aunts. She planned a visit to Richland Center, Wisconsin with her daughter Christina to meet them.

Susan and Christina Freeman-Smith with their new family members found through 23 and Me DNA kit.
Susan and Christina Freeman-Smith with their new family members found through 23 and Me DNA kit.

“I have waited my entire life for this. I always wondered where they were,” Susan Freeman-Smith said.

She hopes to make another visit to Arizona in the summer to meet another aunt of hers.

"You can't deny lookin' like 'em," Susan Freeman-Smith said. "I mean I couldn't deny it if I had to. How can you not feel nothin' for those people? I mean, I do, instantly, instant bond."

Through meeting her aunt and uncle in Wisconsin, she found out that they have children, and she has first cousins she never knew about.

Her daughter thought that they looked more like her mom.

"I couldn't believe they were related to me," Christina Freeman-Smith said. "But I'm a pretty free spirited person."

Christina Freeman-Smith with her new cousins.
Christina Freeman-Smith with her new cousins.

Freeman-Smith plans on going back to Wisconsin every year, where her aunt Karlene Wilson Hess and her uncle Jimmie Wilson took her to their father's grave.

Susan Freeman-Smith said she was emotional upon being near her biological grandfather's grave.

"You can feel it," Susan Freeman-Smith said. "I take care of cemeteries, restore headstones. I've walked in hundreds of (cemeteries) and I never got that feeling, when I walked on my grandfather's grave."

Susan Freeman-Smith with her grandfather's grave in Richland Center, Wisconsin.
Susan Freeman-Smith with her grandfather's grave in Richland Center, Wisconsin.

Freeman-Smith is now finishing her degree in Business Management and Applied Science at Arkansas Tech University.

She's grateful to 23andMe because without their services, she wouldn't have found her family.

"I got along with all of 'em, how can you not? How can you not love 'em?" Susan Freeman-Smith asked.

This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Ratcliff local finds family through 23 and Me