Press "Enter" to skip to content

The Amazing Winners of Our Father-Child Look-alike Competition!

Leading up to Father’s Day, we asked you to send in your photos of father-child, grandfather-grandchild, or other father-relative pairs that share a striking resemblance. To say you did not disappoint is a gross understatement. We were completely overwhelmed with the number of incredible entries!

So first, we want to extend our deepest thanks to everyone who sent in an entry, whether via email or social media. It was extremely difficult to choose a representative handful to feature on the blog today! We were particularly amazed at how many great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather entries we received — isn’t it unbelievable how DNA can be passed down through multiple generations and be seen, clear as day, on two faces from 100 years apart?

Because of the volume of amazing entries, we decided to award 3 prizes instead of just one! But before we announce the winners, let’s take a look at the runners up.

This great-great-grandfather-great-great-grandson pairing (!) comes to us from Rita Mcnabb: 

The child is Rita’s grandson MJ, and the man is Basil Harrison McGuire (1880–1940), Rita’s husband’s maternal grandfather: MJ’s great-great-grandfather.

The child is Rita’s grandson MJ, and the man is Basil Harrison McGuire (1880–1940), Rita’s husband’s maternal grandfather: MJ’s great-great-grandfather.

“My husband was adopted and through my genealogy research I was able to get these family pictures of Basil,” writes Rita. “We were shocked when we saw the picture and the resemblance to our grandson MJ. We always wondered who MJ looked like. Now we know.”

How amazing that they managed to find such striking family resemblance to a biological ancestor of her husband!

This next pair, this time a great-grandfather and great-grandson, comes to us from Marian Rowe:

“The right-hand photo is of my father George Chapman, taken when he was 18 at the beginning of World War I,” writes Marian. “He was born in 1897. The left-hand photo is my grandson at 19. He was born in 1996.”

“The right-hand photo is of my father George Chapman, taken when he was 18 at the beginning of World War I,” writes Marian. “He was born in 1897. The left-hand photo is my grandson at 19. He was born in 1996.”

Mariam points out that both of them were just starting out their army careers around the time these photos were taken: George with the City of London Yeomanry and Alex with the Australian Army. “I think there is a remarkable likeness between the two,” she adds. It’s not just you, Marian!

Next, we have a father-son pair from Lexie Henderson:

Lexie’s father, Jeffrey, is on the left, and his father (Lexie’s grandfather) Floyd is on the right. The resemblance is even more astonishing when you realize that these two doppelgangers never actually knew each other.

Lexie’s father, Jeffrey, is on the left, and his father (Lexie’s grandfather) Floyd is on the right. The resemblance is even more astonishing when you realize that these two doppelgangers never actually knew each other.

“My father never knew who his biological father was,” writes Lexie. “He always wondered who his dad was and what his dad was like, which similarities they shared and what traits he had obtained from him. The only information my father was ever able to gather from his biological father was a name, and that was because he witnessed his mother write ‘Floyd’ on a baptism record under the ‘father’ section.”

Years went by, and Lexie’s father had lost all hope of finding more information about his father… and then, Lexie took a DNA test and started sorting through her DNA Matches.

“One of my DNA matches had the last name ‘Rodriguez,’” says Lexie. “I reached out to her, and found out that ‘Florencio’ was her grandfather and he went by ‘Floyd.’” The two exchanged information and photos. Unfortunately, Floyd had passed away 3 years before, “but my dad can now live with the satisfaction of knowing what an amazing man his father was,” says Lexie. Jeffrey was also able to connect with his 5 biological siblings.

“Sadly, his dad never knew about my dad,” writes Lexie. “What’s interesting is they share the same handwriting and an interest in a ton of the same things. Thank you, DNA technology, for helping us find a huge missing piece, and allowing us to put these pieces together to expand our family.”

What an amazing story! Many thanks to Lexie for sharing it with us.

Next, we received this entry via Twitter from Patti:

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Patti shared a photo of herself and her late father, smiling the same million-dollar smile, and wished her father a happy Father’s Day in Heaven. So beautiful.

This next great-grandfather-great-grandson pair comes to us from Kimberly Jo Meyer Wilson:

On the left is Kimberly’s son, Donny, and on the right is her paternal grandfather, Anacleto Toquato Leone.

On the left is Kimberly’s son, Donny, and on the right is her paternal grandfather, Anacleto Toquato Leone.

“I found out, through taking several DNA tests, that I had Italian in me,” says Kimberly. “I finally looked at my matches to see where the Italian was coming from.” One of her matches had a photo of her father in her family tree, and Kimberly was struck by this man’s resemblance to her son. She took a screenshot of the photo, created this collage, and sent it to her sister.

“She asked me what Anacleto’s last name was, and when I told her, she asked me if I remembered Gene Leone. I did,” Kimberly says. “He used to visit our mother until I was around 9 years old.” It turns out that Gene was the biological father of Kimberly and her younger brother.

“Anacleto immigrated from Italy as a young man, and met my grandmother, who also immigrated from Italy as a young woman,” writes Kimberly. “They married and had 3 children, one of whom was my biological father. Even though Anacleto only lived about 10 minutes from me when I was a child, I never got to meet him. Anacleto died in 1973.”

Another fascinating story about family resemblance revealing something about the past! Many thanks to Kimberly for sending it to us.

Next up is another great-grandson-great-grandfather pair from Phyllis Stupek:

Amazing! Thank you for sharing this, Phyllis.

This father-son pair comes to us from “Fawn” on Twitter:

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Remarkable resemblance!

And finally, these impressive handlebar mustaches come to us from Ann Phelan:

On the left is Ann’s son Nathan, born in 1992 in North Ireland; on the right is Nathan’s great-great-grandfather Richard Mcmanus, born in 1877 in Massachusetts.

On the left is Ann’s son Nathan, born in 1992 in North Ireland; on the right is Nathan’s great-great-grandfather Richard Mcmanus, born in 1877 in Massachusetts.

On the left is Ann’s son Nathan, born in 1992 in North Ireland; on the right is Nathan’s great-great-grandfather Richard Mcmanus, born in 1877 in Massachusetts. 

The resemblance is uncanny! Many thanks to Rose Ann.

And now for the winners! Drumroll please…

Winner #1: Glenda Edwards

We were struck not only by the obvious resemblance between Glenda (left) and her father (right), but by the incredible story behind it. Glenda took a DNA test in 2017 and received a match with an unknown second cousin. She was surprised to see that she had gone to school with this cousin, not knowing they were related.

Then, Glenda uploaded her DNA to MyHeritage and got a match with an unknown first cousin. This led her to the discovery that the father who raised her was not, in fact, her biological father. She kept digging, and after more research and some visits to the archives in Sydney, she was able to piece together her full family tree. She found a relative who had known her father and received photos of him.

“Sadly he died in 1997,” writes Glenda, “but I have been told about his life and the kindness he had towards others. Now, I help others with their DNA matches and have been successful in helping many find where they belong. I’ve done their family history for them, as I feel one more healed person is a plus for the world. Thank you for allowing other DNA results to be uploaded to MyHeritage.”

We are honored to have helped Glenda discover the true identity of the father she so resembles. It’s because of stories like hers that we allow users to upload their DNA data to MyHeritage, receive DNA Matches from our database, and contact those matches absolutely free. Congratulations, Glenda, and many thanks for sharing your wonderful story with us!

Winner #2: Karen Freeland

The next winner of this Father’s Day contest is Karen Freeland, who sent us these lovely photos of a great-grandfather-great-grandson pair along with a story both heartwarming and heartbreaking:

The older photo is of Karen’s father in his early 20s, and the more recent one is of her grandson at almost 16. Karen tells us that the two never met: “My father passed away from bladder cancer the day after we found out my daughter was going to have a boy,” she writes. “They are so similar in mannerisms. Both are soft spoken and men of few words. My grandson greatly resembles his father, but through the years my husband and I always see my father clearly.”

We see it, too! Congratulations, Karen, and thank you for sharing this beautiful story with us.

Winner #3: Andrea & Tim Eustace

Last but not least, we were blown away by these photos and this story from Andrea and Tim Eustace:

“My husband Tim Eustace has just found who his father was after years of searching,” writes Andrea. “Tim is the product of a World War II romance. His mother is from Cornwall, England and his father was in the U.S. Navy based in Cornwall from 1943–1945. Tim never knew his biological father.” They didn’t even have a name for him — but through DNA, Tim discovered his father, Joseph Kappes, born in Maryland.

“Tim is now 76 and his father would have been 107!” says Andrea. “Sadly, his half-siblings have passed on, but his nephews kindly sent us this photo. We always wondered where the dimple in the chin and the widow’s peak came from. Absolutely no doubt!”

No doubt at all. Congratulations to Andrea and Tim — for winning our contest, but more importantly, for the priceless discovery they just made and shared with us! Many thanks for sharing it with us.

Glenda, Karen, and the Eustaces will each receive a free one-year MyHeritage Complete subscription. We hope their prize will help lead them to even more amazing discoveries!

The post The Amazing Winners of Our Father-Child Look-alike Competition! appeared first on MyHeritage Blog.

Source: My Heritage

Be First to Comment

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *