Please introduce yourself

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Permalink Reply by Susan Comstock on August 7, 2009 at 3:25pm

Hi, Sue,
I think, if I entered your family correctly in my family tree, that we are 5th cousins and our common ancestors are Juda Jacob Judas Lederer and Barbora Bune Fanta. I am descended through Aron Lederer and Rosina Weissenstein, and I think you are descended through Aron's brother Dawid and Juditha Lowy. Eytan sent me the link to your site; he is my first cousin, once removed. In addition, my husband is descended through John Howland, who is the one who came over on the Mayflower and almost died when he was swept overboard, so we have more than one connection! I was adopted as an infant, and did not find my biological family until I was an adult, but I am now happily doing genealogy and adding relatives! I would be pleased to hear from any other family members.

Permalink Reply by Sue Lederer Geiger on August 7, 2009 at 4:14pm

Susan,

I'm delighted to make your acquaintance thanks to Cousin Eytan! And you live close enough that we might actually get together some time! I'm in Simi Valley in Ventura County,and my sister Linda Lederer Horgan and her husband live on the Big Island of Hawaii. I just talked to her,and there's a Katrina sized hurricane heading their way which they hope will lose a lot of strength by the time it reaches them in a couple of days.

My family moved to California from upstate New York when I was a child. My dad's brother, Dave,and his wife Margaret had seven children,so you have a whole slew of new Lederer 5th cousins.We have a son who married last year who's in medical school in Missouri,and my sister has a daughter who just graduated from law school.I was a middle school teacher for 39 years,and I'm now happily retired.there's time to read,volunteer,and play on the computer.You'll notice I didn't say anything about cleaning the house or organizing my office.

I'd love to hear more about how you found your biological family and about you. Who's the adorable little one?

Permalink Reply by Susan Comstock on August 7, 2009 at 4:55pm

That's my first grandson, Aiden. I also have a granddaughter, Isabella, and another little one is on the way! My oldest son is an Air Force pilot and lives in Texas with his wife and son. My middle son is in medical equipment sales and lives in San Jose with his wife and daughter. My youngest son is an electrical power lineman who lives in Playa del Rey with his girlfriend. I am a retired professor of nursing and nurse-midwife, and I am happy to finally be sleeping at night! My husband, who hasn't yet retired, is a computer systems analyst for the state, and the genealogy expert in our family.

When I was in my early 20's, after my oldest son had been born, my adopted parents took me back to the county adoption agency to talk with a social worker about my biological family. She wasn't allowed to give me any identifying information, but I was able to do detective work off the clues she gave about my father, and he found my maternal grandmother (who was living in the same place she had been when I was born) and she put me in touch with my mother. At the time, I hadn't the foggiest idea about genealogy or who all the other relatives might be, but as I got older I got more interested. Thank goodness for the internet, and all the work that Eytan has done!

My (adopted) brother lives in SoCal, and I just got back from a trip to see him and my Aunt Gaby, who lives very close to you, so perhaps we can meet in person on my next trip, or if you ever get up by Sacramento, please come visit me! I prefer to swim or quilt over cleaning the house (actually I prefer to do almost anything over cleaning the house).

And Linda, if you are reading this, I am pleased to make your acquaintance also. My husband grew up in Hawaii for four years, and flew airplanes into hurricanes on purpose for the Air Force, so we hope the coming one loses steam or veers off-course pretty quickly.

BTW, I'm not sure I see it, but my husband thinks we look a lot alike, especially the chin and around the eyes.

Permalink Reply by Sue Lederer Geiger on August 7, 2009 at 6:14pm

A first grandchild! How exciting!! I would have thought you were much younger.I guess we blonds are lucky that the gray kind of blends in! It's nice to have another blond in the family because I'm the only one despite the fact that my mom was Swedish,Scotch-Irish,and English.My pale skin and fair hair came from my Russian Jewish grandmother,and my Swedish grandfather was pretty dark.

I became a grandma three years after becoming a mom at age 38. My husband Charlie married right after high school and had two daughters by the time he was twenty-one.Our son,Chris,was born when he was 42.SO...Our son is 25,his sisters are mid to late 40's,and our granddaughters are 22 and 19.Our daughter-in-law and granddaughter were sorority sister.

Until just a year ago we all lived close to each other,but now Chris and his wife,Shannon,are in Missouri,our granddaughter,Robin,is in grad school in London,and our younger granddaughter,Carrie,is going to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. She'll be spending a semester in Italy,and we're making our first trip there to rendezvous with her at the end of October.

Permalink Reply by Susan Comstock on August 7, 2009 at 6:54pm

Most of the recent Lederers on my line have blue eyes. My birthfather was blond/blue from his father's Danish/Northern German roots, and his mother's family from Hungary all had very light blue or gray eyes. My first husband had brown eyes and dark hair, but all my boys were born with blue eyes and blond hair.

I know all about generational confusion. Eytan, who is my mother's cousin, is about 8 years younger than I am, and my mother's half sister is only a couple of years older than I am. When I met my mother's mother, she was about the same age as my adopted mom.

The Italy trip sounds very exciting! My husband Dave and I hope to travel a lot after he is retired (ancestral villages are first on the list). I lived in Thailand for two years between high school and college, and got wanderlust. My brother is married to a Thai woman, so luckily I get to go back there occasionally with them. I was also an international maternal-child health consultant for a while, and worked in the Punjab, India, but Germany and Italy are the only European countries I've visited so far.

Permalink Reply by Bob Katz on August 12, 2009 at 6:34am

I have one Lederer family in my tree. Siegrund /Lederer/ married Fanny /Weissel/ and had a daughter Fannie Weisl /Lederer/ who was born 14 Apr 1882 in New York City. She died 2 Dec 1966 in New Rochelle. She married Charles Leopold /Kellner/

I am not sure if I have a connection with your family or not.

Permalink Reply by Sue Lederer Geiger on August 12, 2009 at 7:22am

Welcome,Bob! Some years ago there was a Lederer website devoted to an unrelated Christian Lederer family.It was there that I found Eytan Lederer,a distant cousin who's one of this group,so you never know. I hope this site helps us make lots of connections with cousins past and present.

Permalink Reply by Eytan David Lederer on August 12, 2009 at 9:19am

Hello Bob, and Cousins Sue and Susan,
I do not think therte is relation, but if you give me more details aboput the Lederers in your family - I will check my records.
Eytan

Permalink Reply by Linda Kay Lederer Horgan on August 14, 2009 at 6:27pm

Hello, I'm Linda (Lederer) Horgan, the sister who lives in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. That's me on the left with some friends in Maui last week.Our hurricane did indeed fizzle, and the next one, some 800 miles out to the southeast is likely to as well. Evidently a hurricane has not hit this side of the big Island in recorded history, so I hope that continues. It's enough getting the vog (volcanic smog) from Kilauea Volcano, which has been more active recently. In addition we had quite a big earthquake the year after we moved here, so we haven't escaped the hazards of Southern California, where my husband and I taught and lived for over 30 years. Sue is the genealogist and historian of the family, but she sends me lots of interesting information. I also enjoy swimming, and now that we have a bit more land than our tiny beach lot in Oxnard, we are into gardening in a big way. We were lucky enough to eat our own papaya, pineapple, and figs this morning.

Permalink Reply by Sue Lederer Geiger on August 14, 2009 at 6:37pm

Welcome,Sis! You make Hawaii sound so enticing that all your cousins will want to come visit you despite the hurricanes and vog. I'll keep sending the Lederet lore.We have to get the next generation hooked on it.