The reunion of two siblings at the Limerick Garden of Memories last week partly overcame decades of familial separation. Jo Ciavaglia reported the emotional story in the Bucks County Courier Times.

The Cappetta family had nine members: father Michael, mother Dorothy, and children Harry, Michael, Helen, Diane, Pauline, Julie, and Millie.

When patriarch Michael passed away in 1960, Dorothy was unable to care for her children. Social workers removed them and placed them separately.

One went to a Catholic home for boys; several went to orphanages; son Michael and his sister Helen ended up at Pennhurst State School and Hospital, the Chester County institution eventually closed for violating patients’ rights.

Into adulthood, several of the Cappetta siblings reconnected haphazardly. Michael and Helen parted ways once Pennhurst ceased operations in 1987. And the remaining family remained fractured as well. Millie’s fate, in fact, still remains a mystery.

Michael’s passing spurred Montgomery County Deputy Coroner Adam Shellenhamer to seek a next of kin. He connected with Helen, who led her subsequently to Harry.

They — along with Harry’s wife — were able to attend the service and bid their family member farewell.

Although Harry’s memories of Michael have been blurred by the decades, Helen has clearer recollections, understandable given her time with him at Pennhurst.

“He drank a lot of coffee,” she said. And she remembers his enjoyment of Tarzan movies.

More on this reconnection, aptly held at Limerick Garden of Memories, is at the Bucks County Courier Times.