Tom Perez

official photo of Tom Perez in 2013, U.S. Department of Labor, Author Tiffany L. Koebel

Birth Name: Thomas Edward Perez

Place of Birth: Buffalo, New York, U.S.

Date of Birth: October 7, 1961

Ethnicity: Dominican Republic [Spanish, possibly other], 1/16th Haitian

Tom Perez is an American politician, consumer advocate, and civil rights lawyer. He has been U.S. Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, from October 8, 2009 to July 23, 2013, U.S. Secretary of Labor, from July 23, 2013 to January 20, 2017, and Chair of the Democratic National Committee, from February 25, 2017 to January 21, 2021.

Tom is the son of Altagracia “Grace” Brache Bernard and Rafael Antonio de Jesús Pérez Lara. His parents are from the Dominican Republic. His maternal grandfather, Rafael Brache, was a politician, civil servant, and diplomat, who was his country’s Ambassador to the U.S., the U.K., Denmark, and the Netherlands. After a falling out with Dominican Republic president Rafael Trujillo, Tom’s grandfather was declared an enemy of the state and remained in the U.S. with his family.

He is married to attorney Ann Marie Staudenmaier, with whom he has three children.

Tom’s paternal grandfather was José Pérez Nolasco (the son of Francisco Pérez Chávez and Concepción Nolasco Aguiar). José was born in Santo Domingo, and was a wealthy lawyer. Francisco was the son of José del Socorro Pérez Agüero and Lorenza Chávez Contreras. Concepción was the daughter of Matías Nolasco Román and María Florencia Aguiar Carmona.

Tom’s paternal grandmother was Ana Lara Hernández (the daughter of Eduardo de Lara Rojas and Rómula del Carmen Hernández Hernández). Eduardo was the son of Fernando de Lara Rojas and María Francisca Antonia Rojas Guzman. Rómula was the daughter of Telésforo Hernández Trejo and Anacleta de Jesús Hernández Camacho.

Tom’s maternal grandfather was Rafael Ángel Brache Ramírez (the son of Elías del Carmen Brache Soriano and María Apolonia Ramírez Melert). Rafael was born in Moca. Elías was the son of Justo Brache and Francisca del Rosario Soriano. María was the daughter of Anselmo Ramírez Biolonis and Isabel/Ysabelle Julia Melert, who was born on Cap-Haïtien, Nord, Haiti.

Tom’s maternal grandmother was named Dolores Grecia Bernard González (the daughter of Bernard Sánchez, and of a woman whose surname was González). Tom’s great-grandfather Bernard was the son of Juan Evangelista Bernard Rodríguez and María Saturnina Sánchez Jiménez.

Source: Family history of Tom Perez – http://hoy.com.do