Long, lost sister Susan Kendall McClure Etengoff!!

It was about the year 1980 or 1981 when my father Fred William Kendall came out to California with his then wife, Rita. My first husband and I lived with our 1 year old daughter, on Palo Verde Ave. in Lakewood, CA.

I think this picture was around the time that he came to visit and we started looking for my younger sister, Susan.


During one of our conversations, the topic of Susan came up. She was the daughter of my fathers' 2nd wife. To see how this came about visit ( How many siblings do I have???) We talked about when the last time he saw her was, what had happened, and where she was at this point. He hadn't seen or heard anything about her since about 1964?

She is the little blonde in the front. Susan Kendall was her name then. This was in Jan 1963 and was right around the time that I last saw her.

After my father cheated on Carol (Susan's mother, the first lady on the left), she divorced him and moved away. Her last known address was in Cypress CA, living with her mother. My father knew the address but wasn't allowed to see Susan. Soon, the house was sold and the whole family moved away to AZ. No forwarding address, no information and all letters that my father wrote, were returned undeliverable. He did know that her new last name had been changed to McClure.

So as we talked more about her, the more we wanted to find her. We had always wanted to find her, but were at a loss and didn't know how to go about it. We decided to take a drive to the old house, that was her last known address in Cypress, just to take a look. He wasn't even sure which house it was but knew the general area, on the street.

As we drove slowly down the street, trying to figure out which house it was, there was a man out in his front yard, watering his lawn. We approached him and asked if he had lived there long and that we were looking for someone that had lived there some 20 years or so, ago. He had lived there since the track was new!! We asked him if he remembered a family that lived on that street, that had a daughter and a little girl that moved in with them. Surprisingly, he remembered Carol and Susan and remembered that they moved to Scottsdale, AZ? I don't remember now, if that was the correct town, as that was 34 years ago.

So, we returned home with a little more information than we had when we left. I called information in Scottsdale, AZ and asked for McClure's phone number. I was told there were 5 or 6 of them. So I explained our situation and what we wanted to accomplish. She surprisingly gave them all to me. I began to call the numbers, one by one, but they were the wrong number, until........the last number.

I asked for Carol. The lady that answered the phone said that she wasn't there at that moment. WHAT?!?!?!  Oh my goodness! I don't remember the conversation that took place but found out that Susan had married and moved to Vancouver WA. I was given her number. We were all in shock! Did we finally find her after all these years?

There we sat, all nervous and anxious, what would we say to her when we called? Well, I called and we were all in shock that it was really her. We talked a bit about our lives and where we lived and what professions we were in. She told me that all the pictures she had of our dad were taken from her and destroyed by her mother, Carol. She remembered that he was tall and had dark hair and that he was handsome. She had faint memories of him. Then she asked me, "Do you know where dad is?" I gulped and said, "yes Susan, he's sitting right here next to me!" We all started crying, everyone in the house, including my mom!! He got on the phone and they talked, for what seemed like forever.

It was a happy ending that we found her before our dad passed away. They exchanged pictures and he got to see his grandchildren from her. It was bitter sweet because although they found each other, they never did get to see each other in person.

I was able to meet her in person, years later. This is me on the left and Susan on the right.


As for my other two younger sisters, we have yet to find them and he hadn't seen them since they were little kids. He passed away in May 1992. I am still on the hunt for them, Theresa Kendall and Tammy Kendall were their last known names. Maybe Teresa Kendall and Tamara Kendall and their last known address was somewhere in the state of Indiana. I hope to find them someday also.