JEFFERSON, Texas (KLTV) - A man raised in a German Catholic orphanage met his biological father and more than 60 family members Saturday after a search that began nearly two years ago.
Joshua Schneeloch spent 19 years in the orphanage.
“You’re home, baby! You’re home,” Derrick Colbert, Schneeloch’s uncle said.
Raised in Germany, Joshua grew up wondering when it would be his turn to go home.
“When you see other kids be picked up by parents, you start realizing: Hey, why is nobody picking me up?” Schneeloch said.
Though he was never adopted, he never stopped looking for his place.
He remembers the prayer he made daily over a rosary.
“Please. One day, I want to meet my father,” Schneeloch said.
A year ago, his wife gifted him an Ancestry kit.
“There was a little bit of fear that he gets rejected again,” Nicole Pavelka said. “That was one fear. but I also knew that he has a family. Two kids and myself, right? He belongs.”
A genealogy professional got to work on helping Joshua find relatives.
And after finding a couple cousins...
“One day she called me and said, ‘I think I found your father,’” Schneeloch said.
Arthur Colbert served two years in the military, stationed in Europe.
“I did not know that I had left a baby over there in Germany when I was transferred back to the United States,” Arthur Colbert said. “If I had known that I would’ve brought him back to the United States with me!”
Without revealing his identity, Schneeloch called his dad under the guise of insurance needs — hoping to get a few questions answered.
“He actually opened the door for me saying: Hey, I hear an accent, where are you from? I said Germany. He said: I know Germany. I said: Oh really?” Schneeloch said.
“Was you ever in Germany? I said yes.” Arthur Colbert said.
“When were you in Germany? He said 1969, 1970. And then I became more and more nervous,” Schneeloch said.
“Was you ever in Kaiserslautern, Germany? I said yes,” Arthur Colbert said.
“And I stopped talking. Because I just spoke with my father,’ Schneeloch said.
And one DNA test later...
“The longest week of my life,” Schneeloch said. “The laboratory called: this is your dad by 99.99%!” Schneeloch said. “And it was like...wow!”
“And I said: Oh Lord! Let’s go!” Arthur Colbert said.
“We found him!” Schneeloch said.
Days later, they met.
“Walking towards my dad was probably the longest walk I’ve ever done in my life,” Schneeloch said.
“We met each other and both shed tears!” Arthur Colbert said.
“Putting my rosary around his neck, the rosary from every time I prayed...he has it now,” Schneeloch said.
And Saturday in Jefferson, Joshua walked alongside his dad into a room of people waiting to love him.
“The biggest fear you have as an orphan is to be pushed -- pushed away,” Schneeloch said. “That’s what you have to deal with your entire life as a child. It’s: why am I not loved? Why am I not home? Why am I not being picked up? What’s going on? What did I do wrong? And that’s why I’m emotional right now, too. Because that’s the biggest gift you can get. To be loved.”
Over sixty family members... for a man who once had none.
“I’m overwhelmed for how much they welcomed me,” Schneeloch said.
And to that young boy all those years ago:
“I’m very proud of you. You never gave up. You had faith, you believed in it. And you were strong to stick with your plan,” Schneeloch said.
Schneeloch is writing a book over his experiences.
Despite not having met for 55 years, Joshua and his dad both went into the same profession, which is insurance sales.