Gary and his brother Ricky were adopted by a Daniels family.51

Gary and his brother Ricky’s adopted grandmother, Eleanor (Gisewhite) Daniels was also the sister of their natural father, Robert Gisewhite. This makes Eleanor’s son, Robert “Dink” Daniels, the adopted father of Gary and Ricky, also their first cousin.3

Gary served in the Army Infantry right out of high school, 1984-1987. He spent a year in Korea. Worked at the local, now defunct, Clearfield Tannery in the mid 1990’s, where he met his wife Betty. Gary has had back surgery and is on disability.6721
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In the summer of 2016 an effort was made by Gary’s full brother Daniel and myself, a half-brother, to establish a relationship with our brother Gary. On July 12th while I was in in Clearfield, PA. on an extended visit to my relatives in the east from my home in Las Vegas, we, with my cousin Wilbur Lines, Jr., made an unannounced visit at Gary’s home in nearby Olanta. We found him outside standing next to their above-ground swimming pool with his wife Betty and granddaughter Amara in the pool. We were a bit apprehensive but relieved to be met with no resistance and spent several hours visiting with Gary and his family. He showed us his home, shared stories of his life and gave us refreshments. Both he and Betty were amicable and congenial hosts. Gary did tell us he had no relationship with his family which included his and Daniel’s full-brother Ricky, who they said they hadn’t seen in nearly a year. He said they pretty much stick to themselves and don’t socialize with neighbors or friends. His adiop[ted father had dies a few years ago and his adoipted mother was living as I recall in northeast Pennsylvania near New York.

At the end of our visit we exchanged phone numbers, and all seemed well. Within a week or so, Daniel and I begn making phone calls to Gary which were never answered. Through voice messaging we both invited him to meet with several other of our newly-found siblings at an upcoming gathering. As a couple of weeks passed and the event grew closer, not having received a response, we decided one day to pay another unannounced visit. The reception was far different than the first. His wife was outside and seemed rather cold toward us and when Gary came outside to talk he spared no time in tellings us, “It may sound ignorant, but I thought you’uns* [sic] would get the message when I didn’t return your calls.” He went on to tell us he had no interest in hanging out with us. Daniel had speculated earlier on several occasions, in considering why we werent hearing from Gary, that might be the case. We left immediately after a quick apology on my part. To say the least we were disappointed with Gary’s decision. He had a nice home, seemed like a decent guy and was a good husband and provider for his wife and granddaughter. Daniel and I were a little perturbed that Gary led us on during that first visit and would have taken it better had Gary told us up front, and from the beginning, he didn’t want a relationship. Maybe he changed his mind after that first meeting, who knows? But, I was reminded of something my mother Maxine would say from time to time: “People are funny.”3



*”You’uns” or “Yinz” is a second-person plural pronoun used mainly in Western, Pennsylvania, but also found throughout the Appalachians.6722

Gary and his wife Betty are raising their young granddaughter, Amara, the child of Betty’s son from a previous marriage.6721