Dan was born and raised in London ON, spending high school years in Ilderton and working life in Hamilton, Kitchener and Strathroy, retiring there. He became interested in his family history in the 1960’s and discovered that his English-sounding name was originally Dutch, Outman, with the first family arriving in New York City in 1687 and the first family to Canada came in the 1820’s to Oxford County, ON.

 

Around 2014, Dan began serious research into his maternal family history and discovered that his maternal grandmother and her sister were Home Children. It began several years of research into her story and resulted in a book to be published in 2022 for the 120th anniversary of her arrival. His interest in the Home Children has been shared many times over with his presentation “Home Children-Sharing the Stories” featuring the story of his grandmother and other Home Children, who sailed on the same voyage. He has three adult children and 5 grandchildren.

 

Dan has two special furry friends, his cats Komoka and Sandy. He has a great liking for photography and train history as well, in addition to his genealogical interests. His fun hobby is collecting items that have a fishing theme and collecting Noritake.