Genetic Genealogy Services
Meet Chris Pederson
I was first introduced to family research over 30 years ago by my uncle, Hugh O. Bourque. It turned out that my grandfather, Ricard Clay Bourque, had traced the paternal family back to 1755 when the Acadians were expelled from Nova Scotia by the British.
Uncle Hugh also showed me the research done by another family member on my maternal side. Reviewing that research, it became clear why I had always heard that the family was Scots-Irish. Additionally, Uncle Hugh took me to visit the gravesites of my great grandparents in Milton, Louisiana. Quite a moving experience for me.
Then in 2015, while watching TV with my wife, a commercial came on for AncestryDNA. My wife said, “I want to do that!” When the results arrived, I shared them with my 90-year-old father-in-law who responded, “I want to do that, too!”
And so began my passion for genetic genealogy.
I have since built a large family tree tracing my wife’s ancestry through the Spanish Colonial period, from the Conquistadors through New Mexico and then to Southern Colorado.
DNA results have led to several startling and unexpected discoveries for me,
for my friends and now for my many clients. You may read some of these in my Testimonials below.
Do you have a burning question about your own ancestry? A brick wall in your family tree? Contact me and let's start a conversation about your goals.
Expertise
My first real success story came about while working in construction. My supervisor knew I was a genealogist and told me that he had been adopted as an infant. He had a little information about his possible biological family. Maybe I could find out more?
My supervisor brought a file to me at work one day. I quickly got started. Within less that a minute, I found my supervisor's previously unknown half brother. Unfortunately, that sibling died in 2000. Undeterred, I went on to discover another half brother and half sister. They have been united and have enjoyed catching up with each other about 70 years of family history.
So began my segue from genealogy hobbyist to genetic genealogist.
See my professional experience below.
Professional Memberships
Association of Professional Genealogists
International Society of Genetic Genealogy
National Genealogical Society
New Mexico Genealogical Society,
Recent Lectures
Colorado Society of Hispanic Genealogy
Broomfield Genealogy Society
City of Westminster, CO
Genealogy Site Memberships
Ancestry.com
FamilySearch.org
Wikitree.com
Acadians Project Member
Profile Improvement Project
Testimonials
My great cousin, Dolores Flores, is almost 80 years old. She never knew who her mother was. We searched through hundreds of records with Ancestry.com and some other testing sites to no avail. With the expertise of Chris Pederson, we were finally able to make progress. He searched through numerous records and finally found my cousin’s mother’s birth record. From there he found that Dolores’ mother moved to Chicago and had six more children. Dolores has enjoyed getting to know her newly discovered brothers and sisters!
Dr. Renee Fajardo
As Vice President of the
Colorado Society of Hispanic Genealogy,
I'm in charge of arranging speakers for our
genealogy group. Once I met Mr. Pederson,
I knew he'd be great for our group.
He gave a very informative presentation
introducing us to the growing field of genetic genealogy. We've learned that it's the use of DNA
in conjunction with genealogical research.
Fascinating!
Denise Lovado-Duran
My maternal grandmother
never knew the identity of her father.
Throughout her 102 years of life, this was a
great mystery for her. Because she was never legally adopted by her parents, it was nearly impossible to determine whom her father was.
Sharing just a few DNA records with Chris Pederson,
he was able to link to other DNA profiles and determine the identity of my true great-grandfather!
Lifelong mystery solved, brick wall toppled!
I’ll be forever grateful for his expertise and meticulous care of this sensitive family information.