A woman has spoken of the horror she felt when she found out her late husband was in fact her father. 60 year old Valerie Spruill, from Doylestown, Ohio, only made the discovery once her husband Percy had died, through a DNA test. Now she’s telling her story in an attempt to find her other siblings.
The confusion began because she was looked after by her grandparents from 3-months-old. Her mother Christine was one of three ‘night ladies,’ as she terms it, who testified in a 1980 trial of Summit County Probate Judge James Barbuto who was convicted of sex charges.
Valerie’s mother and father got together when Percy was 15 and the number of children they had is unclear. She was cared for by her grandparents and her mother visited, although Valerie thought she was a family friend.
At 9 years old, she was devastated when she found out Christine’s identity – who died in 1984- as well as discovering that the man she thought was her father, was actually her grandfather. But she was not told who her real father was. Valerie later met and married Percy.
Born in Mississippi, he worked in Akron as a truck driver and, later, as a parking-lot attendant at Morley Health Center. He died in 1998 at the age of 60, but for years, she heard odd rumors about their relationship. She finally learned the truth from an uncle not long after Percy’s death.
Valerie says she confirmed the relationship with a DNA test. She is not 100% certain Percy knew he married his daughter because it was not mentioned. But Valerie strongly believes he was aware of the taboo he had committed but was simply afraid to tell her. When asked to estimate how many people know about this, she laughs and says, ‘Half of Akron.’
via: BlackMediaScoop
