Doylestown, OH – Valerie Spruill, 60, was in for the shock of her life when DNA test results confirmed that her husband, Percy, was also her father. She believes that he could have known the truth about her parentage but may have feared telling her, according to the Akron Beacon Journal . Spruill was given to her grandparents to raise when she was only a few months old. An old hairbrush of Percy’s found beneath a dresser prompted the bizarre discovery.
The shocked senior citizen has three children and eight grandchildren. She decided to share her story with the world in hopes of finding other siblings which Percy may have fathered, the Daily Mail reports.
The Ohio grandmother had this to say about the very tangled family tree:
“If this old lady done come through all this, and God’s still got her here and still with a good heart. Because you find so many mean, vicious people in the world, and you don’t have to be, you can love no matter what you’ve come through or where you’ve been in this world. I want this to be more of an inspirational story. If I’ve come through this, anyone can come through anything through the help of the Lord.”
Valerie Spruill’s mother, Christine, was one of three “night ladies” who took the witness stand during the 1980 trial of Summit County Probate Judge James Barbuto. The Buckeye State politician was ultimately convicted on sex charges. Her mother and father spent time together when he was just 15-years-old. Spruill is now aware she has six brothers. She is unsure of the total number of children her biological parents may have had together or perhaps separately.
When Christine visited the grandparent’s home, Valerie thought she was simply a family friend. The Doylestown woman was 9-years-old when she found out Christine’s true identity and learned that the man she had been told was her father was actually her grandfather.
She was never told the name of her father and years later met and married Percy. The 60-year-old woman also notes that she had heard odd rumors about her relationship with her husband for years. She is not 100 percent certain that her deceased spouse was aware that he had married his daughter but strongly believes he did realize the taboo nature of their intimate relationship. Spruill is now seeing a therapist to deal with the emotional repercussions of finally knowing the truth about biological roots.