Birth Name: William DeVry Simard
Place of Birth: Montréal, Québec, Canada
Date of Birth: April 20, 1968
Ethnicity:
*French-Canadian, possibly other (father)
*German, English, Irish (mother)
William DeVry is a Canadian actor. He was born in Montréal, Québec, the son of Diane Ida (DeVry). He was raised in Québec, Canada, and moved to Florida, U.S., with his mother at the age of nineteen.
His maternal grandfather was William Charles DeVry. His parents were Wilhelm Conrad DeVry (the son of Wilhelm Heinrich DeVry and Maria Kunigunde Stuewe) and Ida Suzanne Schoellkopf (the daughter of Henry Schoellkopf and Emma C. Kohler). Wilhelm Conrad was originally from Schwerin, Germany, and moved to the U.S. with his German parents. Ida was born in Illinois, to a father from Goppingen, Germany, and a mother from Ohio, whose own parents hailed from Altenburg and Darmstadt Worms, Germany.
His maternal grandmother was Helen Mary Filkey. Her parents were Hallick Walters Filkey (the son of William Henry Filkey and Mary Katherine Walters) and Madge Ethelynne Ehler (the daughter of Hans Frederick Ehler/Ehlers and Helen Matilda McBride).
His maternal stepgreat-grandfather (Ida Suzanne’s second husband) was inventor and manufacturer Herman Adolf/Adolph DeVry, who happens to be Wilhelm Conrad’s brother.
His father’s surname, Simard, is of French origin.
Sources: Information about William’s maternal step-greatgrandfather, Herman Adolf/Adolph DeVry – https://www.immigrantentrepreneurship.org
Genealogy of William’s maternal grandfather, William Charles DeVry – http://www.ancestry.com
Obituary of William’s maternal grandfather, William Charles DeVry – http://articles.chicagotribune.com
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