Cheryl Odell - Friends and Family
Friends and Family
Georgia Daughter uses DNA to discover the truth behind a family photo.
By Lena Anthony
Visiting her great-grandmother’s house remains one of Cheryl Odell’s fondest childhood memories. She vividly recalls the family photos on the wall, especially those of her mother, Ann, her uncle Bill, and Pam, whom she always had assumed was a cousin, given how frequently she appeared in family photos and showed up at family events with her mother, Jane.
“I knew they were family, but I just didn’t know where they fit in,” said Mrs. Odell, who is Chapter Regent for Lachlan McIntosh DAR Chapter, Savannah, Georgia, and also serves as Georgia State Chair for the DAR DNA Network. “When I finally asked my great-grandmother, she said, ‘Oh, Pam is Jane’s daughter, and Jane is a very dear friend.’ I thought that was sweet, so I just let it go.”
A few decades later, Mrs. Odell heard a different version of the story—that her grandfather and Jane were romantically involved, making Pam her mother’s half-sister.
“My mom found out in high school, but she never spoke of it again because that’s how family secrets were dealt with back then,” she said. “She also wondered whether Pam knew the truth.”
In 2012, when Mrs. Odell’s mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, her thoughts kept returning to her half-sister and whether Pam knew that she was family.
“Pam was an only child, and I grew up with dozens of cousins,” Mrs. Odell said. “I think it bothered my mom that Pam missed out on being a part of a big family.”
With her mother’s blessing, Mrs. Odell called Pam, which began a process of discovery that answered some questions, raised others and reunited a long-lost friend with the family she didn’t know was hers. An autosomal DNA (atDNA) test confirmed that Ann and Pam were half-sisters. And suddenly, Pam’s family grew exponentially, adding siblings, nieces and nephews, and even great-great-nieces and nephews.
“We always treated Pam like family,” Mrs. Odell said. “Now we had proof that she was.”
While Pam and Ann were making up for lost family time, Mrs. Odell was on a parallel family journey of her own. Her daughter, Bryanna, was a fan of the show “Gilmore Girls,” which sometimes featured DAR-themed characters and plotlines.
“She always wanted to join the DAR because of the show, and I admit I had no idea what it was,” Mrs. Odell said.
Once a month, in Huntington Beach, California, the group of soon-to-be DAR members—Mrs. Odell, her mother-in-law, two sisters-in-law, two nieces and her two daughters, Brooke and Bryanna—convened to compare notes on their genealogical discoveries.
“We decided those get-togethers would be our family time,” she said. “It was an amazing time.”
She had assumed her Patriot would be on her father’s side—he was one of 16 children—but it turned out to be her mother’s side of the family that had Revolutionary War roots. This opened a door for Pam to join the DAR too.
Mrs. Odell joined the DAR, along with her daughters, on the same day in 2012. Her mother, Ann, joined in 2015. Since 2015, another of Mrs. Odell’s sisters-in-law and three more nieces have joined DAR. For Pam, it would take Mrs. Odell three additional years, relying on the atDNA test results proving the relation to her mother, plus multiple road trips from her previous home in California to an Arkansas cemetery. She also credits Mark Voltaire, one of the DAR’s full-time “genies,” for walking her through the documents she needed to get the application approved.
“In just 30 minutes, I walked out of Headquarters knowing exactly what I needed to get Pam’s application approved,” she said. “And yes, that is a plug for DAR—from chapter registrars to volunteer genies to DAR staff, they want to help you with your applications!”
It also helped that Mrs. Odell’s Chapter Registrar, Suzanne Sanborn, was the first in the nation to submit Y-DNA evidence supporting a new member Application. The DAR began accepting Y-DNA evidence in 2014 and atDNA in 2020 for proof of lineage.
“Even though it’s been several years now that DNA tests are accepted, I’ve heard from so many people that they’re still intimidated about using it because it seems so new and novel,” Mrs. Odell said. “There are so many knowledgeable people, both inside and outside of DAR, who can help you navigate it.”
Although Mrs. Odell’s mother and mother-in-law have passed away, their family legacy enabled 20 family members to join DAR or the Children of the American Revolution.
“Maybe a DNA test result will show you there was a surprise somewhere in your family history, but somebody was born out of that and created a legacy of their own,” Mrs. Odell said.
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From DNA to DAR
Since 2014, DAR has accepted Y-DNA test results to support New Member and Supplemental applications. Autosomal DNA (atDNA) evidence has been accepted since 2020.
Y-DNA is passed from father to son. Although it cannot prove lineage, it can point to potential family members. As a result, DAR requires this evidence to be submitted alongside other traditional lineage documents.
atDNA is inherited from both parents. An atDNA test can identify genetic matches with relatives. This type of evidence can be used when traditional documents are nonexistent or unavailable in the applicant’s first three generations.
Learn more at dar.org/national-society/genealogy/dna.