Mitch Hedberg
Birth Name: Mitchell Lee Hedberg
Date of Birth: February 24, 1968
Place of Birth: Saint Paul, Ramsey, Minnesota, United States
Date of Death: March 30, 2005
Place of Death: Livingston, New Jersey, U.S.
Ethnicity: Swedish (paternal grandfather), Czech (maternal grandfather), German, some English and Scots-Irish/Northern Irish
Mitch Hedberg was an American comedian and actor.
Mitch was the son of Mary Ann and Arnold Warren Hedberg. He was married to Canadian comedian Lynn Shawcroft, until his death.
Mitch’s paternal grandfather was Swedish, and his paternal grandmother had German, English, and Scots-Irish/Northern Irish ancestry. Mitch’s mother was of half Czech and half German descent.
Mitch’s paternal grandfather was named Jerry Olaf Hedberg. Jerry was Swedish.
Mitch’s paternal grandmother was Laura Ann Schaff/Schaaf (the daughter of Leroy/Lee/Leo R. Schaff and Wilma Amelia Thompson/Thomas). Laura was born in Illinois. Leroy was the son of Louis Schaaf, whose parents were German, and of Sarah J. Simpson. Wilma was the daughter of Marshall Thomas and Lena Sarah Schmidt, whose father was German.
Mitch’s maternal grandfather was Otto Joseph Schimscha (the son of Joseph Schimscha/Šimša and Anna Viska/Vyška). Otto was born in Czechoslovakia.
Mitch’s maternal grandmother was Ann/Anna Theresa Koenig (the daughter of Frank Koenig and Margaret/Marguerite Feig). Ann was born in Illinois, to ethnic German parents from Hungary. Frank was the son of John Koenig and Theresa Kohman.
Sources: Mitch’s paternal grandparents, Jerry Olaf Hedberg and Laura Ann Schaff/Schaaf, on the 1940 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Mitch’s paternal grandmother, Laura Ann Schaff/Schaaf, on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Marriage record of Mitch’s paternal great-great-grandparents, Louis Schaaf and Sarah J. Simpson – https://www.familysearch.org
Genealogy of Mitch’s paternal great-grandmother, Wilma Amelia Thompson/Thomas – https://www.geni.com
Marriage record of Mitch’s paternal great-great-grandparents, Marshall Thomas and Lena Sarah Schmidt – https://www.familysearch.org
Genealogy of Mitch Hedberg (focusing on his mother’s side) – http://www.findagrave.com
Mitch’s maternal grandfather, Otto Joseph Schimscha, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Draft record of Mitch’s maternal great-grandfather, Joseph Schimscha/Šimša – https://familysearch.org
Mitch’s maternal grandmother, Ann/Anna Theresa Koenig, on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Ann/Anna Theresa Koenig on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Ann/Anna Theresa Koenig on the 1940 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Marriage record of Mitch’s maternal great-grandparents, Frank Koenig and Margaret/Marguerite Feig – https://familysearch.org
Death record of Mitch’s maternal great-grandfather, Frank Koenig – https://familysearch.org
Louis Schaaf’s parents were German.
Lena Sarah Schmidt’s father was German.
Change the third paragraph to:
Mitch’s paternal grandfather was Swedish, and his paternal grandmother had German, English, and Scots-Irish/Northern Irish ancestry. Mitch’s mother was of half Czech and half German descent.
https://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=PED&db=curly_locks00&id=I1269
https://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/lee-roy-schaff_205260573
https://www.geni.com/people/Herbert-Thomas/6000000070191222086
I’ve found his grandmother on the 1920 census:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MW1Q-LB5
Margaret Feig —> Margaret/Marguerite Feig
Ann was born in Illinois, to parents from Austria or Germany. —> Ann was born in Illinois, to ethnic German parents from Hungary.
Remove Austrian.
Follers, can you find anything more on his paternal grandmother?
“Achimacha” can be removed. I should’ve realized it earlier, but it’s just a spelling error where the S’s in “Schimscha” were replaced with A’s.
Also, is there a picture?
No luck with a pic sorry. the one wiki seems to be copyrighted.
Maybe I’m just way off as always, but the surnames “Feig” and “Kohman” made me wonder if Mitch had any Jewish ancestry (both names are prevalent in Israel according to http://forebears.io/). His maternal grandmother had a Cross on her grave though, so she at least wasn’t a practicing Jew. And her family lived in Illinois and Minnesota, which does not seem like a common destination for Jews.
Don’t know about Feig, but Kohman is an occupational name not indicative of religious background.
Okay. It was mostly the slight similarity with “Cohen” that made me think regarding “Kohman”.
What do you think about “Schimscha”, “Viska”, and “Achimacha”? They didn’t strike me as particularly Czech surnames, but maybe I’m wrong. Could Mitch’s grandfather have been a German from Czechoslovakia?.
Šimša is a Czech name. Vyška too.
Achimacha sounds like gibberish.
Thank you! That makes sense.