The July announcement that Haldex Brake would close capped an emotional summer for Joyce Tarter, who had spent a week in Mississippi, with her husband, Jim, just before the announcement. There, Tarter met a pair of long-lost sisters.
Tarter’s father, Pat Kloeckner, a Navy sailor, sired three daughters and two sons — all with different mothers — in the 1940s. Tarter searched fruitlessly for nearly 50 years to find her siblings before learning of their whereabouts last November. The family’s story was detailed in a June 28 Register article.
The reunion “was just as I’d expect it to be,” Tarter said. “I’d never seen them in person but it was like we’d already known each other for years.” She noted one sister, Kathy Baker of Houlka, Miss., invited the Tarters to live with her after Haldex closes.
“It’s something we thought about, but we really want to stay in Iola,” Jim Tarter said.
Closure follows emotional reunion
