Brooks Koepka
Koepka in 2019, photo by Debby Wong/Bigstock.com
Birth Name: Brooks Jakows Koepka
Place of Birth: West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.
Date of Birth: May 3, 1990
Ethnicity:
*father – German, English, Irish, Northern Irish/Scots-Irish
*mother – Polish
Brooks Koepka is an American professional golfer.
His brother is professional golfer Chase Koepka, and his great-uncle (grandmother’s brother) is professional baseball and basketball player Dick Groat. He was raised in Lake Worth Beach, Florida. Brooks is married to actress Jena Sims.
Brooks’ paternal grandfather was Burwell C. Koepka (the son of William Henry Koepka and Nina Viola Edgar). Burwell was born in Pennsylvania. William was born in Pennsylvania, to German parents, August Leopold Koepke and Augusta Wilhelmine Holtz. Nina was born in Ontario, Canada, the daughter of Alfred John Edgar, whose father was English and whose mother was the daughter of Irish parents; and of Annie Cameron.
Brooks’ paternal grandmother was Mary Margaret Groat (the daughter of Martin Bruce Groat and Grace Edna Swalley). Mary was born in Pennsylvania. Martin was born in New York, the son of Elijah Groat and Mary E. Sowers, whose parents were German. Grace was born in Pennsylvania, the daughter of William White Swalley and Margaret Ellen Grace.
Brooks’ maternal grandfather was William J. Jakows (the son of Boleslaw Jakows/Jakaus and Adolfa Kolenda). William was born in Pennsylvania. Boleslaw was born in Gudziszki, Poland. Adolfa was born in Pennsylvania, to Polish parents, with her mother being named Josephine.
Brooks’ maternal grandmother was Nancy Margaret Budzik (the daughter of John Joseph Budzik and Helen A. Demski). Nancy was born in Pennsylvania. John was born in Pennsylvania, to parents from Poland, Stanley Budzik and Mary Ann Manz. Helen was born in Pennsylvania, also to Polish parents, Albert Demski and Stella Slawinski.
Sources: Obituary of Brooks’ paternal grandfather, Burwell C. Koepka – http://tillmanfuneralhome.com
Obituary of Brooks’ maternal grandfather, William J. Jakows – http://familysearch.org
Yeah, probably better to list it by parent. It’s weird to have Polish at the end when it seems that he’s probably at least as much Polish as anything else. Even some of his German side on his paternal side is obviously ethnically Slavic.
Koepke is a German surname. Mind him: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_K%C3%B6pke
It seems that it may be a Germanized version of it. I don’t know; internet doesn’t really seem to know, either. I’ve seen it given as being Polish, Czech, German…
*German, etc (father)
*Polish (mother)