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Tucson Woman Discovers Lost Relatives Through the Red Cross

In Honor of World Red Cross Red Crescent Day

May 8 is World Red Cross Red Crescent Day

In honor of this day, we're bringing you stories of the ways people here in Southern Arizona feel the reach of Red Cross' international programs.

Tucson Woman Discovers Lost Relatives Through the Red Cross

Meet Judy Wallingford. At age 54, when her mother passed away, she became the only person in her family. Judy, who doesn't have children, was an only child, and so were her parents.

Imagine how it may feel to have no blood relatives at all. Then imagine how it feels to find some.

"I woke up one morning without a family and by the end of the day I had family."
-- Judy Wallingford

A few weeks before Judy's mother died at age 92, she called her close and said "you have Russian blood."

Judy's grandmother had kept her ethnicity a secret after arriving in Chicago in the 1930s. She had fled Ukraine because of tsarist oppression and famine; she was the only one in her family who left.

And here the journey began.

Above: Video from KVOA News4, February 2010. Read KVOA's story.

Judy met Diane Bart by chance at a political event. They began talking, and Judy opened up and shared her story. Quite coincidentally, Kalpin happens to work at the Red Cross where she helps families reconnect after being divided by armed conflict or natural disaster. And Diane vowed to help.

Diane initiated a search, using Red Cross research networks more robust than genealogy web sites can usually provide. After a year, relatives living in Ukraine were located, and telephone contact was made on December 23, 2009, with the help of an interpreter.

"I woke up one morning without a family and by the end of the day I had family," Judy said. She is joyful yet overwhelmed and sad that her mother cannot witness this. Judy will travel to Ukraine this summer to meet her cousins.

Judy also noted "there is no way I could have done this without the Red Cross. The Red Cross has resources, expertise, and professionalism."

Through the Restoring Family Links program, the American Red Cross helps families find relatives or information on deceased family members when families and loved ones are separated by war or disaster. For program details visit the Restoring Family Links page on Red Cross.org If you need help with a search, call the Southern Arizona Chapter of the American Red Cross at (520) 318-6740.

 

 



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