Brothers separated by foster care reunited after 70 years
- EFN Staff | December 12, 2016
Separated more than 70 years ago, two brothers from Mistawasis First Nation had a happy ending to their long anticipated wait. On December 4th, Joseph Henry Ledoux and Gordon Ledoux met for the first time in Calgary – a happy reunion that brought tears, smiles and hugs.
“We didn’t know what to say. We stared at each other and we gave each other a big hug,” said Joseph, 74.
“It’s a funny feeling to see him in front of me…I was tongue-tied and I wanted to cry. I didn’t know what to say,” said Gordon, 71.
Due to their mother’s inability to look after them, the two brothers were separated after Gordon was born and were put into different foster homes. Joseph went to Prince Albert to live with his aunt and uncle and eventually, they relocated to British Columbia until he was 14 years old. After that, Joseph was adopted into a Christian family. As he grew older, Joseph met his first wife and they got married when he was 25 years old. Together they had three children and Joseph had another child years later in his second marriage.
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It was during his time in B.C. that Joseph received a letter from Gordon stating he was his long-lost brother. They wrote to each other in 1968 and again in 1970 but had misplaced their mailing addresses. That was when they lost contact with each other until years later.
“I made some phone calls to the band and they asked me who I was. The lady was shocked. The line went dead for like two minutes and she came back on and said the files stated me as deceased,” Joseph said. “A couple days later, she called him back saying the files have been fixed. That’s when she told him they found my brother,” he added.
When they reconnected through phone, the Ledoux brothers made plans to meet each other in person. With help from the Mistawasis First Nation reserve, they raised over $2,300 with a community bingo to send Gordon to Calgary.
His daughter Larissa took her father to meet his brother. It was a moment that she will never forget either.
“I was glad that I took my dad because we’re real close. I was really happy that I was able to do that for him,” she said.
Larissa had butterflies in her stomach when she witnessed the moment her dad and uncle met each other for the first time.
“My heart was racing for my dad, I was so excited for him. I had a big lump in my throat,” she said. “They are so much alike. They are very cheeky; it’s crazy how much they’re alike.”
They spent the day shopping and sharing stories on each other’s lives. The next morning, they met again for breakfast before Larissa took her dad back home.
“It was sad. We said our goodbyes and when we were leaving, it looked like they didn’t want to leave each other,” said Larissa.
Gordon was sad to leave the brother he had just met and he recalls the moment when they walked away from each other.
“We said our goodbyes and while we were walking, I looked back and he was still standing there. We checked around the corner and he was still standing there,” Gordon recalls.
But it’s not a final goodbye, the Ledoux brothers made plans to reunite in early summer where Joseph will return to Mistawasis for a week and visit around. Until then, Joseph and Gordon promised to keep in touch on a regular basis.