Abandoned after his birth, man, 59, still seeks mother

Christine Armario

Jun. 17, 2008 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- ALL throughout their childhood, Margo Bake's picture hung in Paul Bake and Melodie Smith's Roosevelt home. The young girl, whom they knew only as their older sister who had run away, smiled through the frame, forever quiet and content in the mid-1940s.

Then, on a vacation to Mexico eight years ago, a question by a customs inspector prompted an unexpected revelation. Paul Bake's birth certificate didn't have a raised seal, the inspector noted. When he returned to Long Island and tried to obtain his original certificate, Bake learned his mother wasn't who he'd thought she was.

The secretary to a Riverhead legislator asked Bake, "How old was your mother when you were born?

"She would have been 40," Bake told her. "No, that's not true," the secretary replied. "Your mother was fourteen."

Margo Bake wasn't Paul's sister; she was his mother.

Stunned, Bake began searching for the mother he doesn't have a single memory of. Today, as Margo Travis Bake would be turning 74, the lost woman's son and sister are asking for anyone with information on what happened to Margo to come forward. They have set up an e-mail address for anyone with tips: margotravisbake@yahoo.com.

"There's a hole in me somewhere because I'd like to know who this person is," said Paul Bake, 59, who now lives in Maine. "And, more than anything, I'd like to know why she never came back and got me."

Between both of their families, Bake and his aunt, Melodie Smith, of Medford, have sent letters or called every Margo Bake they could find; searched the Internet; stood behind cameras on the "Today" show with a sign bearing Margo's name, and contacted the Social Security Administration, they said.

"Even though I don't remember my sister, she's an important part of my life," Smith said.

Through newspaper clips and records of Margo's now deceased mother, Mildred Bake, they have been able to piece together parts of Margo's story.

Margo first ran away from the family's West Hempstead home in 1946. Her parents told the Nassau County police they believed Margo had taken off in search of her idol, Cornel Wilde, a dreamy Hungarian-born actor.

Ten days later, a cook at the Chiswick Hotel in Mineola recognized Margo's picture in the Daily News as a guest named "Kitty Temmpler," according to one of Smith's news clippings. She'd stolen her mom's rouge and high heels and was found at the hotel by police.

Documents that Smith provided from the state Department of Social Welfare say Margo was declared "ungovernable" by a Nassau court in 1948. And records from the State Archives show she was admitted to the Training School for Girls in upstate Hudson that April. There is no mention of it in the records but, given Paul's birth date, Margo was also five months pregnant when she arrived at the school.

Girls like Margo who committed petty offenses found a temporary home in Hudson. But according to former employees, the girls frequently ran away, particularly in August when the corn stalks were high and the temperatures were warm. Sylvia Honig, a social worker at the school beginning in 1965, said the girls fought and called each other vile names.

LaVone Samuel, who attended the school in the 1960s, said there was a "strip room" where girls who misbehaved were kept naked and alone in a room with a lightbulb, a can and a blanket.

"Sometimes you'd be in there for like a week," she said.

Paul was eventually adopted by his grandmother, Mildred. A year later, in August 1949, state records show that Margo ran away from the school with a girl named Dolores Johnson. They returned a day later.

But the next month, Margo succeeded in escaping. The family's last word from her came in a Father's Day card in 1950. It contained a brief message, stating, "Don't worry, Daddy. I have a job and I'll be all right." It was postmarked in Brooklyn, according to a newspaper clipping Smith provided.

Smith said her mind tells her her sister is probably dead, "but in my heart, I can't believe it."

Paul said he is angry his mother never returned but would still want to meet her and uncover the missing pieces of his history. "I'd love to fill that little piece of emptiness in me."

Newstex ID: KRTB-0134-26033321