After 46 years of separation, Glendale resident...

After 46 years of separation, Glendale resident Lorie O’Loughlin, 58, has been reunited with her four siblings, with whom she lost contact when she was 12.

O’Loughlin--whose maiden name was Hamann--said that in 1946 her mother died and she was sent to Florida to live with her mother’s sister. Her two younger brothers and two younger sisters continued to live with their father in Chicago.

After her move, O’Loughlin corresponded with her family for about a year before her letters began to be returned with a “no forwarding address” stamp. A year after that, O’Loughlin moved with her aunt’s family to California.

For the past 15 years, O’Loughlin has called hundreds of Hamanns in cities across the country, hoping to find her brothers or sisters, or a relative who might know their whereabouts. Last week while in Florida with her husband, O’Loughlin finally got lucky.

Calling from a hotel room last Wednesday, she reached Kenneth E. Hamann in College Park, Fla. After talking for a few minutes, she knew she had found her brother. She had reunions with each of her other three siblings over the course of the week.

“It was wonderful,” she said, of the discovery. “I just cried and cried and cried.”