Tuesday, 3 May 2016
George John Dryden, Canada's 'Diefenbaby', dies at 47
George John Dryden, a Canadian man who sought for years to prove that he was the son of former Prime Minister John George Diefenbaker has died.
Dubbed 'Diefenbaby' by the press, Dryden, 47, died of complications from a suicide attempt, a close friend said.
He had been suffering from a terminal pancreatic disease.
There was a striking resemblance between Dryden and Diefenbaker, whose relatives maintained that the twice-married ex-PM was childless.
Diefenbaker served as prime minister of Canada from 1957 to 1963 and died in 1979.
Dryden's mother, Mary Lou, was a close friend of Diefenbaker.
About five years ago, Dryden discovered that the man who raised him, Gordon Dryden, was not his biological father.
"I went for 42 years thinking I was a Dryden, and I just found out…that I'm not," George Dryden said at the time.
DNA tests confirmed that George Dryden was not Gordon Dryden's son, but George Dryden could not conclusively prove that Diefenbaker was his father.
"He was searching most of his life for his identity," Merry-Ellen Unan, a close friend of Dryden, told the Canadian press. "He truly didn't know who he was."
The effort to prove his parentage led George Dryden to become estranged from the family who raised him.
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