.
BIRTH RECORD: Birth record clearly shows first name spelled "Elizebeth."
However, she never used that spelling.

DIVORCE: First marriage (to William E. Smith) ended in divorce 11-Apr-1947,
South Bend, St. Joseph So., Indiana, after two children.

HEALTH NOTES: Heavy smoker for 30 years, beginning in 1950; old-age &
obesity-related diabetes. Breast cancer, age 74, May 1995; mastectomy,
chemo-therapy, radiation. Two heart attacks, angio plasti, and quintuple
bypass, age 75, October 1996; recovered at Cardinal Nursing home after heart
bypass surgery. Severe and extreme osteoporosis.

Address from November 1949 until May 2006: 230 Palau Avenue; Mishawaka,
Indiana.

For the last 19 months of her life, from May 2006 until her death on December 8,
2007, she lived at Countryside Place Nursing & Rehab, at 811 E. 12th Street in
Mishawaka. Nursing home was also called "Beverly Living Center, Mishawaka."

At the time of her death in 2007, she had ten acknowledged grandchildren and one
hidden grandchild (through her #2 son) whom she knew of but never saw. The
hidden grandchild was a grandson, born June 1975, in St. Joseph County,
Indiana. Through that hidden grandson, she had two great-grandsons, born in
about 1997 and about 2000.

In June 1975, within 48 hours of the birth of her # 2 son's son, Elizabeth Ann
knew that the baby existed. She knew because the new baby's mother telephoned
her from the hospital and said, "I want you to know that I gave birth to your
grandson. Dale is the father, but his name won't be on the birth certificate,
and he won't carry the BEARD name." My mother absolutely knew the child
existed and believed he was her grandson. When she told her son what the
young mother had told her, her son (just barely 16) acknowleged the truth and
himself went to the hospital to see his son. He continued seeing his son
regulary for over two years, until the young mother made the choice to prevent
him from seeing their son. (The law was on her side.) Elizabeth Ann
did not see the child even though he lived very close, and she told no other
family member until 2001.

The shock of learning that my mother had hidden the existence of a grandson for
26 years was stunning beyond description. It took ten years of persistent
hunting to find and realize the magnitude of the deception. Why she
happened to share with me what she shared with me in August 2001, I'll never
know. At the time (2001), I asked the relatives with whom I was still in
contact -- some first cousins, the youngest brother, the older of the two
half-sisters. All claimed they knew nothing and had heard nothing from the
lost brother since a few years before 2000.

By 2001 when she told me, my mother's memory was fading. Did she tell
me because she wanted someone to know and I was the most likely person to tell
if she wanted that grandson remembered? Perhaps. She knew me to be excellent
at digging out a story, and she knew that I liked that brother, and she knew
that I tend not to keep my mouth shut. If she wanted the "secret" to remain
"secret" forever, she surely would have known that I was the wrong person to
tell. Did she tell me only because she was a lonely 80-year-old woman and I
was giving her some attention and showing her some kindnesses? Perhaps. Maybe
she wanted a friend. Did she tell me because her memory was going and she
forgot what was a "secret" and what was not a "secret"? Perhaps. I shall
never know why she happened to tell me. All I know is that she spoke the truth
in that one brief conversation in August 2001. When I saw and realized the
truth in September 2011, it was something like a surprise ending to a movie
that I'd been watching for 36 years, without even knowing that I'd been
watching a movie. Along the way and over the years, clues were given. When I
saw them, when I heard them, they seemed to have no significance. Then, in
that one moment of seeing a photograph of the face of my brother's son, the
dozen or so clues and hints from minor moments over a span of 36 years
suddenly came together. I verified my conclusion with standard research and
reporting. The truth explained so much. I also suspect the truth explained
why I lost a brother -- not the existance of a son, but the keeping of the
secret of the son. One of my stand-out memories is from summer 1979. By
chance, I saw my brother in Ft. Wayne when I was with my baby son; I also was
with my youngest brother and our mother. We shared a meal at a restaurant.
I handed my baby son to my brother. My brother was only 20. He took my son
with his large hands, held him in his arms, and handled him and interacted
with him like someone who had experience handling a baby. I remember thinking,
"Where'd you learn how to handle a baby? There were no babies for you to have
handled as you grew up." Yet I could see that he had experience handling a
baby. He had gained that experience handling his own son. He was just never
permitted to talk with anyone about it. It may be that the only two people
to whom he could acknowledge that he had a son were his own mother and the
mother of his son. And that's sad. My brother took many "hits" to allow
his son's mother to keep the secret. And that's sad. If it were a movie,
it would not be a happy movie. Figuring out "the puzzle" gave new meaning to
some of my brother's last words to me: "I don't care about my ancestors. I
care only about my descendants." His son may never know, but I suspect that
his son's real father made a painful choice out of love for his young son whom
he knew and saw regularly for the first two years of his life. If my brother
is still alive, he lived to know that his son did well. The magic of the
internet would have allowed that. Perhaps knowing that his son did well eased
the old pain of an 18-and-a-half-year-old father who was forced to walk
away from his son and from what might have been. By the time my brother was
told, "You no longer may see him because I'm afraid that he'll start asking who
you are, and I don't want to have to try to explain," my brother's son would
have been walking for over 18 months, playing, interacting, and surely
recognizing my brother since he had been seeing him regularly since he was
born. But the law was on the side of the mother, and my brother was forced to
walk away. It must have been agony, and an agony that he was force to suffer,
basically, in silence.

My children know the name and the basic facts of my brother's son; my
brother's son is their first cousin, obviously. An ironic fact that I learned
is that my nephew has shown a modest interest in genealogy. If ever he should
contact me, I will answer him honestly and tell him what I know about the
story of my brother, the young father who saw him regularly until he was over
two years old.

In 2013, I have no idea where my brother is. I don't know whether he's dead or
alive. But I do know where his son is, and I know where his grandsons are.

• Divorced: Y
• Married: 16 MAY 1942 in St. Joseph Co.,Indiana

• Divorced: N
• Married: 19 NOV 1949 in South Bend,St. Joseph Co.,Indiana