Landon Donovan
03/20/2016 – Landon Donovan – Luc Robitaille Celebrity Shootout 2016 – Arrivals – Toyota Sports Center – El Segundo, CA, USA – Photo Credit: Guillermo Proano / PR Photos
Birth Name: Landon Timothy Donovan
Place of Birth: Ontario, San Bernardino, California, United States
Date of Birth: March 4, 1982
Ethnicity: Irish, English, Scottish, Welsh, distant German, Dutch, and Swiss-German, possibly other
Landon Donovan is an American professional soccer player. A forward, he is widely considered among the greatest, or the greatest, U.S. soccer player ever. He has played for Bayer Leverkusen II, Bayer Leverkusen, the San Jose Earthquakes, LA Galaxy, Bayern Munich, Everton, León, and, indoor, the San Diego Sockers; and for the U.S. national team. He is the manager, co-founder, and vice-president of soccer operations for USL Championship side San Diego Loyal SC, and is also a strategic advisor for English side Lincoln City. He won a record six MLS Cups, and is MLS’s all-time assists leader with 136, and also the highest-scoring male American player in World Cup history. Major League Soccer renamed The Landon Donovan MVP Award in his honor.
Landon is the son of Donna, a special education teacher, and Tim Donovan, a semi-professional ice hockey player. His father is from Canada. He was raised partly in Redlands, California. Landon is married to Hannah Bartell, with whom he has two children. Landon speaks German and Spanish. He has distant ancestors who were Amish and Mennonite.
Landon’s maternal grandfather was Rex Allen Kenney (the son of Roy Alfred Kenney and Mary Velura Alexander). Rex was born in Nebraska. Roy was born in Colorado, the son of William Walter Kenney and Caroline Ida Roth. Mary was born in Iowa, the daughter of Alfred Cleo Alexander and Laura Luella Doan.
Landon’s maternal grandmother was Shirley Ann Gesner (the daughter of Orris Hubert Gesner and Donna Edith Ferguson). Shirley was born in Kansas. Orris was born in Kansas, the son of John Herbert Gesner and Carlotta Jane Oldson, whose mother was the daughter of English parents. Donna was born in West Virginia, the daughter of Coleman Bowman Ferguson and Louisa Belle Murphy.
Sources: Genealogy of Landon Donovan (focusing on his mother’s side) – http://www.geni.com
Genealogy of Landon’s maternal grandparents, Rex Allen Kenney and Shirley Ann Gesner – https://www.familysearch.org
Obituary of Landon’s maternal grandmother, Shirley Ann (Gesner) Kenney – https://findagrave.com
Landon’s maternal grandfather was Rex Allen Kenney (the son of Roy A. Kenney and Mary Velura Alexander). Roy was the son of William Walter Kenney and Caroline Ida Roth. Mary Velura was the daughter of Alfred Cleo Alexander and Laura Luella Doan
genealogy of Landon’s maternal great-grandmother, Mary Velura Alexander (through Mary’s bother, Edwin Keith Alexander) – https://www.wikitree.com/genealogy/Alexander-Family-Tree-5493
He has also German (including Alsatian) and Swiss-German. These ancestors included members of Amish Mennonite communities.
It would be interesting to know something about the background of the other American soccer superstar, Clint Dempsey.
Clint’s parents are Aubrey Dave Dempsey and Debralynn Marie Cates.
Paternal grandparents are A D Dempsey (son of Dave M Dempsey and Ida Nora Phillips) and Susie Maytrait Cureton (daughter of Giles Napoleon Cureton and Susie Myrtle Chalker).
Dave was the son of Phillip D Dempsey and Susan Smelley.
Ida Nora was the daughter of Isaac Moses Phillips and Phoebe Ann Bass.
Giles was the son of Ellias Cureton and Laura Larbie/Laribee .
Susie Myrtle was the daughter of Benjamin Franklin Chalker and Emma Weldon.
Maternal grandparents are Charles Robert Cates and Jacklyn Anne Huffsmith.
Charles’ parents were possibly Loyce Millard Cates and Lena Pearl Molen.
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:HFLJ-HN2
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K3FF-VDF
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=14358276
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=45288988
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M2S2-V4S
https://familysearch.org/tree/pedigree/LH2Z-63G/landscape
You should start publishing profiles.
I would if I had the foggiest how to do it.
hit the button “submit a celeb”
@bablah
Can you affirm that Clint Dempsey is fully Caucasian according to those records? I also found this: http://www.reocities.com/cureton99/NacCurenton.html
@andrew
Yep, he is.
I am not the best at discerning Scottish and English, so it’d be nice if someone could submit this info instead of me. I just know Dempsey is an Irish name, but how far back the Irish goes, I don’t know.
italian? he doesn’t look moorish
I thought he was an Italian American, but his name doesn’t sound Italian, but he looks really Italian!
I can sort of see why someone would think he was Italian.
He looks a bit like Andres Iniesta who is a famous Spanish footballer. I didnt know there were so many “soccer”, as you call it, players on the site
I couldn’t tell what race he is with that bald head! Seriously though I thought he was also half-Mexican or something, but apparently not.
Mexican isn’t a ethnicity