‘Mission Fatherhood Succeeded’: German Man Finds U.S. Family After 65 Years of Searching

For almost 65 years, Kenneth Reimund Höfer of Koblenz, Germany searched for information about his biological father. He knew very little, and some of what he did know was painful. Still, he never gave up.

Kenneth grew up knowing that his father, Raymond Leroy Duke, had served in the U.S. Air Force and was stationed in Germany during the 1950s. He met Kenneth’s mother, Margarete, under these circumstances. However, he sustained an injury and was sent back to the U.S. — leaving behind a pregnant girlfriend who didn’t know what had happened to him.

It was clear that the relationship between the two was significant, because she gave Kenneth the middle name Reimund. Nonetheless, Margarete went on with her life: a few years later, she got married and had another son and a daughter. Kenneth grew up happily alongside these half-siblings.

Over the years, Kenneth learned one more thing about his biological father: in 1958, a letter was sent to Raymond from the German youth welfare office with a paternity claim concerning Kenneth — and Raymond rejected it.

Despite the sting of rejection from this information, Kenneth kept searching and kept wanting to meet his father. In 1993, he even flew to the U.S. for the first time and tried to find more information about him, but the U.S. Air Force was unable to disclose any information due to legal restrictions. Meanwhile, Kenneth built a life for himself with a wife and two children, who eventually gave him 7 grandchildren. He recently retired from his longtime job as a roofer.

A DNA test leads to a half-sister

In 2022, an ad for MyHeritage DNA caught his eye and made him consider the idea of taking a DNA test. He took the test, and received a match to a second cousin in the United States.

Kenneth enthusiastically followed this lead and conducted further research to find out how he and this cousin were related. He was able to determine that the cousin’s grandfather was the brother of Kenneth’s paternal grandmother. This eventually led him to the family tree of another MyHeritage user, Julie Duke, 63, who was likely to be his father’s daughter — his half-sister.

Kenneth reached out to Julie and everything fell into place. Even when the two simply exchanged written messages, there was an instant connection. Julie, though she was surprised to learn about Kenneth’s existence, had no doubt that he was her brother, “from the first minute.”

Julie actually remembered her father mentioning Margarete, the German girlfriend he loved dearly from his time serving in Germany. Kenneth discovered that the paternity claim Raymond had rejected had arrived about a month before he married Julie’s mother, Sharon Lu. This might explain why he had rejected the paternity claim at that time.  Unfortunately, Raymond had passed away two years before Kenneth found Julie, in August 2020, after many years on dialysis and a battle with lymphoma.

‘Mission Fatherhood’ succeeded

Julie decided to take a DNA test to confirm their relationship — and it proved beyond a doubt that Kenneth and Julie were siblings. Thus, Kenneth was able to welcome 5 new half-siblings into his life: Julie and her 4 siblings, James, Steven, Peggy, and… Kenneth Raymond, a half-brother with the same name as him!

When Kenneth asked his newfound sister to send him some photos, “Immediately I received almost 50 photos by email, and an invitation to Thanksgiving 2023.” But he didn’t want to wait until November. In May 2023, Kenneth traveled to the States to meet his newfound half-siblings.

Julie (left), Kenneth (center), and brother Steven Eugene meet for the first time

Kenneth (left) with his newfound siblings James and Peggy

“‘Mission Fatherhood’ succeeded,” says Kenneth. “I was fully recognized by my siblings and had a great 2 weeks in California. I visited the cemetery and was able to complete the circle for me and my mother.”

Many thanks to Kenneth for sharing his incredible story with us. If you have also made an amazing discovery on MyHeritage, we’d love to hear about it! Send it to us via this form, or email us at stories@myheritage.com.