Mother hopes she's found her daughter Address: <A HREF="http://www.bakersfield.com/local/story/3101426p-3124328c.html">http://www.bakersfield.com/local/story/3101426p-3124328c.html</A> By AMY HILVERS, Californian staff writer e-mail: <A HREF="mailto:ahilvers@bakersfield.com">ahilvers@bakersfield.com</A> Saturday May 10, 2003, 11:15:23 PM For 56 years, Louise Rosenkranz has wondered what became of her fair-haired daughter, Stella Faye. Thanks, in part, to two Bakersfield genealogists, she may have her answer in time for a belated Mother's Day celebration. Rosenkranz lost contact with her then 2-year-old daughter in 1947 after leaving the child in a woman's care here in Bakersfield. Rosenkranz, then Louise Rogers, had lived in Bakersfield only a short while, taking jobs as a farmworker and waitress. She had to return to Oklahoma for her father's funeral. Because she only had money for partial bus fare and planned to hitchhike the rest of the way, she decided to leave Stella Faye with a woman, Daisy Fredrick, who ran a board-and-care house on Niles Street. But Rosenkranz became stranded in Texas and while she was trying to find a way back, Fredrick disappeared, along with Stella Faye. Rosenkranz, now living in Texas, has searched for the child ever since. But even using detectives and AdoptionFamilyNetwork.com, an organization dedicated to helping people find lost relatives, the 77-year-old Rosenkranz ran into dead ends and false hopes. She has been ill and wanted desperately to find Stella Faye before she died and so contacted The Californian. A story about her plight was published on April 28. Within a few days, she received a call from Susan Williams at AdoptionFamilyNetwork.com that two Bakersfield women may have helped find her daughter. Rosenkranz has been this close before and discovered through DNA that a woman she thought might be Stella Faye wasn't. DNA tests on Faye Delano are still pending. "I've been disappointed so many times. ... I do believe that we are mother and daughter," Rosenkranz said. Even without the DNA, records and eyewitness accounts point strongly to Delano, now 58, who said she was told by her adoptive parents that her mother was bludgeoned to death while hitchhiking to Bakersfield from Oklahoma. "After 56 years of thinking your mother is dead, I had emotions I had never felt before," Delano, now living in Hayward, said. "I think shock set in first then jubilance then numbness. Now my head is in the clouds and my feet haven't touched the ground." As the two women wait eagerly for proof of their physical connection, they are both grateful to the people who helped discover the possible link. Sharon Dulcich and Karla Everett, both genealogists, read Rosenkranz's story in The Californian and within a few hours sifted through public records and came up with Edna Welch. Welch, of Bakersfield, was the sister of Delano's adoptive father. She was able to give enough information to find Delano. It turns out that Fredrick, the woman who ran the Niles Street board and care, was already in the process of selling her home when she took in Stella Faye. The child stayed with the Fredrick family, which moved for a short time to Oklahoma, ironically, one county away from where Rosenkranz's father was buried and the rest of her family lived. At the age of 8, Stella Faye was adopted by Fredrick's daughter and son-in-law and her name was changed to Faye Groseclose. It is unclear whether Rosenkranz was declared dead, or if they claimed she abandoned the child. Life was not easy for Delano, who said she had an abusive childhood. She became pregnant as a teen and gave the baby up for adoption. Then she married at 16 and had three other children. Later, she became a private investigator and was able to find the baby she gave up for adoption. But she could never find a death certificate for her mother. Delano believed her mother was dead because, "no one would make up such a story to a little girl," she said of her adoptive family's claim that Rosenkranz had been beaten to death. "That's not even something you tell someone you don't like." Now, she feels God is rewarding her with finding Rosenkranz. Delano knows Rosenkranz is her mother by looks, and personality, she said. "She's a fighter. I had to have good genes to live through the life I had, thanks to her," Delano said. Rosenkranz has spoken at least once a day to Delano since the younger woman was contacted on May 3. "It was all here," Sharon Dulcich said of the records that led to Delano. "(Rosenkranz) didn't have to go through all these years of wondering and hurt." Dulcich reluctantly accepts praise. She said there's a code in her genealogy network that you pass on help as you receive it. Someone once helped her find information on a lost relative. "I don't feel like a hero. I feel very happy that I was able to be a little help for someone who was not able to come to Kern County," Dulcich said. Delano, however gushes with praise. "I would have to say it is the most happiest moment of my life and I can only look forward to the second-most happiest moment of my life. For 56 years, I've missed being held by my mother," Delano said. Copyright © 2003, The Bakersfield Californian | Consider each day a gift. Use each for who knows when we shall no longer be able to do so. James R COTTRILL. BuckyK3LIE@aol.com 3119 Pioneer AVE, Pittsburgh, PA 15226-1740 412-563-2379