MEMBERS of St Albans' famous Ryder family are being sought to fulfil the dreams of a British exile hoping to meet up with her wartime friends.

Denise Sabotta, ne Looney, lived with the Ryders from 1940 until 1945 before moving to the United States with her GI husband.

The mother of 14 children, Mrs Sabotta, 73, never expected to return to St Albans but this summer she plans to make a one-off trip from her Illinois home and dreams of meeting up with her wartime family.

But contact with England has been lost during the years and Mrs Sabotta is left with few clues about her old friends.

However, her web-surfing daughter-in-law Joanne lent a hand by sending an e-mail to the St Albans and Harpenden Observer, in which she appealed for help to ensure Mrs Sabotta's search is a fruitful one.

She wrote: "My mother-in-law lived at 42 Clarence Road with the Ryder family. They are somehow related to the famous Samuel Ryder, as cousins or nephews, but she wasn't sure how.

"There was a Leonard and Dennis and two girls called Joyce and Alice, who both married men called Andrews.

"What I need to know is whether these people are still alive. They would probably all be in their 70's now.

"This will be the only trip for my mother-in-law and I really wish I could find someone who she knew back then."

Mrs Sabotta, who boarded at Loreto College in Hatfield Road until 1940, also wrote to the newspaper, supplying the following useful information:

She lived with the Ryders until she married GI Elwood Etchied in 1945 and moved to the USA two years later. She later remarried Ron Sabotta.

The Ryders were a large family. The eldest daughter was called Alice, or Allie - who married a man called Jack Andrews - and the other children were called Lennie, Joyce or Joy, Dennis, Gwynneth, Enid and there was also a younger daughter whose name Mrs Sabotta cannot remember.

Through contacts on the internet, Mrs Sabotta found Ryders in Watford and Bushey, but they proved to be no relation.

Does anyone remember Denise Looney from wartime St Albans or know the Ryder family which she is trying to trace? It is quite possible the Ryder children who became friends with Miss Looney are still well known in the St Albans area.

If anyone can help, contact the St Albans and Harpenden Observer on 01727 841133.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.