Alyssa Miller
Miller in 2013, photo by PrPhotos
Birth Name: Alyssa Elaine Miller
Place of Birth: Los Angeles, California, United States
Date of Birth: July 4, 1989
Ethnicity: German, English, one eighth Slovenian, Irish, small amounts of Swedish, Danish, Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, remote Welsh
Alyssa Miller is an American model.
She is the daughter of Joy and Craig Miller. She was raised in Palmdale, Los Angeles.
Alyssa has been described on the internet as having Native American ancestry. It is not clear if this Native American ancestry has been verified/documented.
Alyssa’s paternal grandfather is Kenneth Theodore Miller II (the son of Theodore Kenneth Miller and Irene Marie Okleshen). Alyssa’s grandfather Kenneth was born in Illinois. Alyssa’s great-grandfather Theodore was the son of Arthur Russell Miller and Ann Beatrice Standen, who was from Minesing, Simcoe, Ontario, Canada, and whose own parents were English. Irene was born in Illinois, the daughter of Slovenian parents, Charles Oklescen/Okleshen/Oklešen, with family from Praproče, and Alojzija/Louise Klemenčič, from Gotna Vas, Novo Mesto, then in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Alyssa’s paternal grandmother is Dolores Joan DeRuntz (the daughter of Nicholas/Dominick Richard Deruntz and Dorothy/Dorris Ann Hallihan/Evan). Dolores was born in Illinois. Nicholas was the son of Alsatian German parents, Dominick Deruntz and Catherine Schehin. Dorothy was the daughter of Arthur Evan/Evens and Elizabeth Hiens, who were of German descent.
Alyssa’s maternal grandfather was Everal Albert Songer, Jr. (the son of Everal Albert Songer and Minnie Dorothy Cramer). Alyssa’s grandfather Everal was born in California. Alyssa’s great-grandfather Everal was the son of Jesse Albert Songer and Daisy Ada Gilmore. Minnie was the daughter of Erastus Charles Edwin Cramer, who was of German descent, and of Beatrice Annie Saunders, who was English.
Alyssa’s maternal grandmother was Joyce Elaine Sullivan/Wyer (the daughter of May Ester Wickman). Joyce was born in either Missouri or Colorado. May was the daughter of a Swedish father, Harvey Anslem Wickman, and of Bessie Anna Marie Larrabee, who was of Danish origin on her maternal side.
Sources: Genealogies of Alyssa Miller (focusing on her father’s side) – http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com
http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com
Genealogy of Alyssa’s father (focusing on his father’s side) – https://www.geni.com
Genealogy of Alyssa’s mother’s family – http://www.thesongers.com
Dorothy A. Hallihan->Dorothy/Dorris Ann Hallihan/Evan. Dorothy was the daughter of Arthur Evan/Evens and Elizabeth Hiens, both of German descent.
>Sullivan/Wyer (the daughter of May Ester Wickman). Joyce was born in either Missouri or Colorado. May was the daughter of a Swedish father, Harvey Anslem Wickman, and of Bessie Anna Marie Larrabee, who was Danish on her maternal side.
Ann Beatrice Standen was born in Canada, to English parents.
Nicholas Richard Deruntz was the son of Alsatian German parents, Dominick Deruntz and Catherine Schehin.
Nicholas name is Dominick in some records, so maybe that could be added to his name.
Minnie Dorothy Cramer was the daughter of Erastus Charles Edwin Cramer, who was of German descent, and Beatrice Annie Saunders, who was English.
Change her ethnicity to: English, Irish, German, 1/8th Slovenian, small amount of Scots-Irish (Northern Irish)
The Welsh ancestry is so remote it’s hardly worth mentioning, and I only found Scots-Irish origins for the Scottish names in her lineage.
I’m also pretty sure this is her maternal grandmother (based on that one of her death records lists her as born in Colorado in 1932):
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VRDX-LPJ
There’s a lot to say about this. The record lists her as the daughter of Eugene M. Sullivan and Lena D. Cronin. Eugene was the son of Michael H. Sullivan, who was born in Wisconsin, to Irish parents, and of Hannah Lynch, who was Irish.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MX2F-XB1
Lena was born in Russia, and was Jewish (the surname might come from her previous husband Alfred Cronin, although their marriage record lists Cronin as both Lena’s and Alfred’s surname). However, Eugene and Lena married in 1939, seven years after Joyce was born.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KNQP-R83
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X7WR-QZW
On the 1930 U.S. Census, Joyce’s sisters Joan and Jeanne appears, with Eugene M. Sullivan as their father and, this time, Alice M. Hamilton as their mother.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X7WP-Q1G
Eugene and Alice married in 1928, a year before the birth of Joan, the oldest daughter.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KNQG-XFC
Alice was the daughter of Frederick W. Hamilton and Sarah A.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MK49-G78
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MX2F-96Y
So I assume Alice is her mother and Lena is her stepmother. But I included everything partly because it might not be 100% confirmed, and partly because it is still interesting to note that she has a Jewish matrilineal step-great-grandmother.
So the woman is not her maternal grandmother?
I don’t know. I found most of this stuff on her grandmother myself back in the day, but I had my doubts, so I never added it.
In any case, Lena, the Russian Jewish immigrant, would clearly be a step-great-grandmother.
I think this death record is evidence enough.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VGY7-J7B
There are no other people with her name who was born at the right time at the right place other than the woman I linked.
Her Social Security card was issued in Iowa. It’s confusing.
Is it clear that she has Austrian ancestry? Just because the birthplace of her great-grandmother’s parents is “Austria” doesn’t mean they were ethnic Austrians. “Okleshen” and “Klemencic” aren’t Austrian surnames. And when it says that Charles and Irene were born in Praporče (in Czechoslovakia), I think it’s meant to be Praproče (in Slovenia).
As I already said 3 out of 4 of her Austrian ancestors were in fact Slovenian, the remaining one I’m not sure about.
Oh, right, didn’t read the previous comments.
I assume you’re not sure about Irene’s paternal grandmother, Mary Oberstar. But I think that, since her son married another Slovenian, he (Irene’s father) was probably also born in Slovenia, making it reasonable to assume Mary wasn’t Austrian. Plus, there is quite a few Oberstars in Slovenia, according to this: http://forebears.io/surnames/oberstar
Her description on geni.com:
“Daughter of a farmer, 1/2 Hubler (2.8 acres) in Velki Podljubno, Slovenia, Austrian Empire”
https://www.geni.com/people/Mary-Oberstar/6000000001246595012
She was definitely also from Slovenia, but as you know Slovenia is not monocultural. I also believe she was Slovenian but just can’t claim it to be 100% true.
Alojzija (Louise) Klemenčič was surely Slovenian. Her father was Jožef Klemenčič and mother was Marija Jašek, both very Slovenian. She was from Gostna Vas, Novo Mesto.
*Gotna Vas
Ugh, me and my fat fingers…
she looks very fine in this picture
Slovenians have that exotic European look that she has.