He knew his mother was born and raised in Canada with parents and siblings from Ukraine, and his father was born and raised in Ukraine and emigrated to Canada as a young man. Dale and his siblings had asked questions on occasion but unfortunately, both parents passed away before they could fully learn the family history. Everyone thought the stories were lost forever.

Dale had always been curious about that mystery, but it wasn’t until he had a health scare that he finally started seeking answers to the questions that he’d had all his life.

“My mother had her family here, but my father had no family that I was aware of. As I built out the family tree, I realized my father’s box was just a dead end, and that raised a lot of questions for me. Who were my grandparents? Did I have Aunts and Uncles? I just had to know.”

quotes start yellow 1
I finally discovered what I’d been searching for…and now I’m at peace.

Research roadblocks

So, Dale and his siblings began searching for the answers in Canadian records and ship manifests to see what they could find. They quickly realized, though, that the records were incredibly difficult to navigate, with misspellings of names and villages.

“My family spent almost 20 years and thousands of hours researching our ancestry to see what we could find but kept running into roadblocks and dead ends.”

Dale knew he’d need help, so he looked into companies that specialized in genealogy research. That’s when he found Andriy Dorosh, who worked with Dale to discover his roots and reconnect with his Ukrainian heritage.

Village sign entering Uhyrn
Village sign entering Uhyrn

A journey home

Andriy worked with Dale and his wife to create an itinerary for a trip to Ukraine in 2019.

While their primary reason for going was to honour Dale’s parents with a scholarship program for nursing students at the Ternopil State Medical University, Dale hoped that being there in person might also lead to some discoveries of his father’s family history.

“The very first thing we did was have one of Andriy’s fantastic guides take us around Lviv. There were certain things I really wanted to see, and our guide made it happen. It was really enjoyable. Then Andriy picked us up and took us to Ternopil for a meeting with the University. He came in to interpret for us, and he was able to listen to what you say and interpret it at the same time, so the conversation flowed so easily – we really connected with everyone there, both students and senior medical staff. After that, Andriy took us to my father’s village of Uhryn and I walked down the dirt road that my father would’ve run down when he was young.”

A typical village road
A typical village road
My wife Andrea myself and our daughter Marnie
My wife Andrea myself and our daughter Marnie
Working the field the old way Nothing has changed
Working the field the old way Nothing has changed

Uncovered stories and discovered family

After returning home, Dale dug through the research he and his family had done and asked Andriy if he and his researchers could continue looking into the family’s history. What they found was significantly more than Dale expected, with information on Dale’s father’s family dating all the way back to 1840.

Dale shared the research findings with his family members, who were amazed at the amount of details Andriy and his team had found. Learning the stories of their ancestors brought a sense of peace to the family, knowing that their history was not lost after all.

“Andriy and his team turned the impossible into the possible. They sent me an Ancestry Report about my father’s family that had more information in it than I ever could’ve imagined. Andriy also drove for over three hours to the village of Chotkiv, which is about 9km from Uhryn, and discovered my second cousin, Ivan, along with other more distant relatives. He shared stories about my ancestors that I’d never heard before. Words cannot describe the emotions that I felt and still do everyday to know that we’ve found our relatives.”

Andriy the hero of the trip and myself
Andriy the hero of the trip and myself
Village sign leaving Uhyrn
Village sign leaving Uhyrn
The village church
The village church

What’s next?

“I want to leave a mark from my parents and fulfill their legacies by giving back to their ancestral communities and by bringing the family together in this journey. I plan to return to Ukraine with my kids so we can do a heritage tour together and meet my living relatives in person.”

View of Uhyrn on the highway back to Chotkiv
View of Uhyrn on the highway back to Chotkiv

Testimonials

We’re proud of the work we do and want to share what our clients think of us. Read testimonals from past clients and travellers.

From: GB | Date: 2020

"I have been trying to research my grandfathers side of the family for many years with very little progress. This is until I contacted Andriy and his team, within the space of weeks I found out more than I found in many years of searching. I can’t thank them enough..."

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- Jordan Ihnatyszcz

I have been trying to research my grandfathers side of the family for many years with very little progress. This is until I contacted Andriy and his team, within the space of weeks I found out more than I found in many years of searching. I can’t thank them enough for the wonder research they’ve carried out, it’s been a smooth and enjoyable process from the outset and can’t wait to continue my journey with Dorosh heritage tours.

- Jordan Ihnatyszcz

From: US | Date: 2024

"Hello, my name is Carol Cherich. My paternal grandmother, Ewa Kit was born in Ukraine in 1894 and migrated to USA in 1913 and never returned to her homeland. Between 1920'a until the Berlin wall went up, she had contact with relatives, but then lost contact during the Soviet oppression..."

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- Carol jean Cherich

Hello, my name is Carol Cherich. My paternal grandmother, Ewa Kit was born in Ukraine in 1894 and migrated to USA in 1913 and never returned to her homeland. Between 1920'a until the Berlin wall went up, she had contact with relatives, but then lost contact during the Soviet oppression and died in 1980 so there was no longer any family contact. Finally in 2023, after many years of doing research, I came across Dorosh genealogy services and was able to find my grandmothers relatives in Ukraine who have been living in the same community for over 100 years. I was also able to receive primary documentation on my ancestors, baptisms, marriages, children and a local family cemetery. I also requested a video of my ancestor's homeland and interview Ivan, a second cousin. On 3/2/2024, one day before my birthday, I received a 45-minute video of one of my relatives, Ivan, a second cousin who showed me pictures of the family, gave us a tour of the home he now lived in as well as the home my grandmother grew up in next door, a tour of the local community and family cemetery. My cousin Ivan has a sister (Iryna) who has 2 sons, one in LVIV, and another son lives in Florida. Within 36 hours, the son in LVIV, Andrii reached out to me via Facebook and email and connected me to his brother in Florida. Both sons connected me to their mother, Iryna who now lives in Barcelona Spain. Iryna will be visiting Florida, and I will go there to finally meet her, the son and his children. I am truly grateful for the time Andrii and his wife helped me with the genealogy research and best of all was the video to see live my relatives so far away from Tennessee. My grandmother must be smiling above to know our family has come full circle. This has been a real blessing. Sincerely, Carol Cherich,

- Carol jean Cherich

From: US | Date: 2020

"I have had the most professional and exciting experience with Dorosh Tours. I wanted to research my maternal line in Ukraine. I didn't have much information to go on and thought it would be very difficult and maybe impossible to learn about this side of my family. Dorosh /Olia really..."

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- Wendy Norris

I have had the most professional and exciting experience with Dorosh Tours. I wanted to research my maternal line in Ukraine. I didn't have much information to go on and thought it would be very difficult and maybe impossible to learn about this side of my family. Dorosh /Olia really left no stone unturned and I was so happy with my research reports they provided. I now have names,dates and places to fill in all previous empty blanks in my family tree. I found the whole experience wonderful, even the price. I highly recommend their services. Wendy

- Wendy Norris

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