William DeVry

DeVry in 2015, photo by kathclick/Bigstock.com

Birth Name: William deVry Simard

Place of Birth: Montréal, Québec, Canada

Date of Birth: April 20, 1968

Ethnicity:
*father – French-Canadian, possibly other
*mother – German, English, Irish

William DeVry is a Canadian actor. He is also known as William Vry and William Simard.

The name Simard is French. He was raised in Québec, and moved to Florida, U.S., with his mother at the age of nineteen.

William’s maternal grandfather was William Charles DeVry (the son of Wilhelm Conrad DeVry and Ida Suzanne Schoellkopf). William was born in Illinois. Wilhelm was born in Schwerin, Germany, the son of Wilhelm Heinrich DeVry and Maria Kunigunde Stuewe, and moved to the U.S. Ida was born in Illinois, the daughter of Henry Schoellkopf, who was from Goppingen, Germany, and of Emma C. Kohler, who was born in Ohio, and whose own parents were from Altenburg and Darmstadt–Worms, Germany. William’s maternal step-great-grandfather, Ida’s second husband, was inventor and manufacturer Herman Adolf/Adolph DeVry, who was Wilhelm DeVry’s brother.

William’s maternal grandmother was Helen Mary Filkey (the daughter of Hallick Walters Filkey and Madge Ethelynne Ehler). Hallick was the son of William Henry Filkey and Mary Katherine Walters. Madge was the daughter of Hans Frederick Ehler/Ehlers and Helen Matilda McBride.

Sources: Obituary of William’s maternal grandfather, William Charles DeVry – http://articles.chicagotribune.com

Information about William’s maternal step-great-grandfather, Herman Adolf/Adolph DeVry – https://www.immigrantentrepreneurship.org