Sisters meet in Southport for first time

SOUTHPORT, NC (WWAY) — Four sisters with the same father met for the first time in Southport this weekend after years of communication and a decades-long search for family.

Patty Nogle lives in California. Her sisters — RuthAnn Bennett, Kim Davidson, and Tina Carter — are from Michigan.

Bennett was adopted as a baby and began searching for her biological parents about 50 years ago.

“To see my hair color, my curly hair — you know, things about me that I never knew,” Bennett said.

She said her mother’s side didn’t offer much connection. But she did find a sense of family on her father’s side.

“I wasn’t sure how they would feel — Tina and Kim — because they were like 11 and 12 at the time, I believe,” Bennett said. “And I thought they might go, ‘Who’s this coming into our family?’ But it turned out great. They were just so welcoming.”

Four years ago, Nogle’s daughter signed her up for Ancestry.com. That search led to more than expected.

“We used to come here once a year to see him,” Davidson said, referring to their father, who lived in Southport for 20 years before he passed away. “And then after he passed, we continued this and thought it would be a great place to have our first official meeting.”

The sisters met face to face for the first time Friday at Wilmington International Airport. They spent the weekend together at a motel in Southport.

“Our dad would’ve been ecstatic to have her show up,” Bennett said.

“It just feels very natural to me,” Davidson said. “It doesn’t feel like we just met Patty Friday evening at all.”

“It’s just been wonderful getting to know Patti and finding similarities with each other,” Carter said. “Things like, ‘I like this,’ ‘Oh, I like that too,’ ‘Oh, you do this — I do this too.’”

The sisters planned to end their reunion with a sunset cruise Sunday evening. They said they are already making plans to meet again.