Reunion came too late for brother.

Byline: Clive McFarlane

COLUMN: CLIVE MCFARLANE

Ann Fournier was about 25 years old and in her first year of college when the horrific secrets of Belchertown State School for the Feeble-Minded were revealed in a newspaper article titled "The Tragedy of Belchertown."

The article, published in 1971, disclosed that the school was primarily a holding tank for residents, who were routinely mistreated and abused by the staff. In the wake of the article, parents sued the school in what was to become the first of such lawsuits against state institutions.

Belchertown was closed in 1992.

As a first-year college psychology major, Ms. Fournier and her classmates discussed Belchertown much in 1971.

"I don't know if people remember the horror, but it was sad and terrible," she said.

Little did she know at the time that she had a brother who lived at the institution.

But then again, Ms. Fournier, adopted when she was 3 days old, had no idea she had biological siblings.

These were among the memories Ms. Fournier, a Dartmouth businesswoman, shared with her newfound siblings, Dennis John Rinki of Lunenburg and a sister who wishes to remain anonymous, at the Gardner Ale House on Sunday.

Also attending was Pat Langley of New Hampshire, another sibling whom Ms. Fournier met for the first time last year and who was also meeting the other two siblings for the first time.

Mr. Rinki had met one sister before, and that was a surprise, he said.

"My heart came into throat when I found out about her because I have always felt I was an only child," he said.

In this space last week, I told the story of how Ms. Fournier last year with the help of a friend tracked down her birth mother, Ina Puustinen of Gardner, who initially insisted that she had no children.

Ms. Fournier and Ms. Langley soon found, however, that Ms. Puustinen, who passed away in December, had five other children, all apparently by the same father and all adopted shortly after birth.

The breakthrough came after they were able to track down one of the siblings, Gary Paul, who was once a ward of the state at Belchertown.

For some reason, Ms. Puustinen, who spent her life denying their existence, listed the names of all of her children and their birth dates on a record of Gary Paul's admission to the Belchertown facility.

Was she forced to do so by state officials who, fearful that feeble-mindedness might be genetic, wanted to keep a close eye on Gary Paul's siblings?

Whatever the reason, the Belchertown school record listing all of her children's names and birth dates was the key to Ms. Fournier and Ms. Langley finding their other siblings.

Unfortunately, Gary Paul, who suffered from cerebral palsy, passed away just months before they found his guardian, Sherri Thomas.

Ms. Thomas told them how Gary was always preoccupied with watches and keys, and Ms. Langley surmised that the watches and keys were connected to Gary's time at Belchertown.

"He was in there for 40 years," Ms. Langley said. "And after he left, he wore these keys around his neck and watches on his arms. Things ran on time there, and the people who wore the watches and carried the keys were big deals. They opened his door and gave him freedom."

Sherri also told them of a person who, in fulfilling eight steps of his 12-step Alcoholics Anonymous program, called to make amends with Gary, whom he said he had physically abused when he worked at Belchertown and Gary was a resident there.

Ms. Fournier and her siblings wish they could have played a role helping to heal Gary's Belchertown wounds.

"He makes me think of my adoptive parents, and how perfect a life I lived with them," said Ms. Langley, who grew up in Marlboro.

"It makes my heart sick," Ms. Fournier said.

"We know now that he was well taken care of after he left Belchertown. But we could have done so much for him, just having him being part of the family, attending birthday parties. We were just too late."

Contact Clive McFarlane via e-mail at [e-mail]