(photos from Mark Loudon)
Apart from an ambiguous hint dropped by his mother just after his father died in 1990 – and subsequently denied – Mark Loudon, a Brit of Scottish, English and Irish ancestry (so far as he knew), had no idea that the man he grew up with was not his biological father. A DNA test in May 2017 revealed a completely different DNA profile than what he was expecting – instead of Scottish paternal heritage, it showed an Eastern European Jewish and Spanish one.
With only a third cousin DNA match to a stranger in Chicago and some childhood memories from his aunt, who was only 8 years old when he was born, Loudon set out on a search for closer relatives. This involved not only family history records, but diving into planning records and old photographs for clues. One such photo, shown here, is of Henry Naftali-Hirts Hart and his wife Elizabeth Mendoza.
Loudon will discuss his journey to discover his biological father and its impacts at the next meeting of the Jewish Genealogical Society of British Columbia (jgsbc.ca) on Oct. 1, 7:30 p.m., at the Peretz Centre. All are welcome to attend.