Merle Deneke's family tree had been incomplete for decades.

Her grandfather, Ernest Gossling, and Gossling's brother, Arthur, immigrated to America in 1902 from Liverpool, England.

But after they arrived in New York, they went their separate ways. They never saw each other again.

Ernest Gossling ended up in St. Louis while Arthur Gossling went out West.

But the hole in the family tree was recently filled thanks to some timely phone calls.

Merle and her husband, Bob, of rural Jackson took an Amtrak trip to the nation's Northwest last fall.

While staying at a hotel in Portland, Ore., in early November, Merle Deneke spotted the name "Gossling" in the telephone book.

She wondered if they were related.

She telephoned. A nurse answered the phone and informed her that she had reached a nursing home, where Cecil Gossling was a resident.

The nurse said she happened to be in Gossling's room when the phone rang and answered it. She said Gossling wasn't able to talk on the phone.

But she said the 92-year-old man had a daughter, who regularly stopped by.

Merle Deneke asked the nurse to pass on a message to the daughter.

But Deneke didn't hear from the woman. After a few days, she called the nursing home's main number and reached another staff person, who promised to call the daughter.

After a day of sightseeing, the Denekes returned to their Portland hotel room and discovered the daughter had called.

Merle Deneke immediately telephoned her. She quickly discovered that the woman's grandfather was Arthur Gossling. The woman, Jan Buschman, was her second cousin.

Arthur Gossling had worked as a department store manager. His brother, Ernest, had been a shoe salesman and later a train conductor.

Both brothers died years ago.

Merle and Bob Deneke still marvel at how they happened to track down the long-lost grandfather.

"There are so many things that fit together," said Bob Deneke.

"The key was the nurse picking up the phone in his room," Merle Deneke said.

Merle Deneke said Gossling is an unusual name. Still, she said, the discovery of the other side of her family tree surprised her.

"I never expected to find anybody," she said.