We lost one of America’s finest genealogists this last week. Known lately for her great work as the chief genealogist of Finding Your Roots, many of us knew her as a friend and menter in all things genealogy. I met Johni the first time just after she, with our friend Arlene Eakle, edited the first edition of “The Source.” This was in the mid-80s and Johni was already a legend… She was a good friend and will be missed by many. R.I.P. Johni.
The following excerpt is from the Jan. 22, 2020 online edition of New York Times. It was written by Anita Gates.:
Johni Cerny, the chief genealogist for the PBS series “Finding Your Roots,” who helped some 200 famous people — among them Oprah Winfrey, Quincy Jones, Senator Bernie Sanders and Speaker Nancy Pelosi — trace their ancestry, died on Wednesday [Feb. 19, 2020] in Lehi, Utah, near Salt Lake City. She was 76.
Deborah Christensen, Ms. Cerny’s partner of 23 years, said the cause was coronary artery disease and congestive heart failure.
“Johni Cerny was the proverbial dean of American genealogical research,” Henry Louis Gates Jr., the Harvard professor who is a host and executive producer of “Finding Your Roots,” said in a statement. In an email message on Thursday, he described her work as “transforming raw data into narratives and metaphors about diversity and our common humanity.”
Ms. Cerny’s passion for the field began in childhood, for intensely personal reasons.
Jonnette Elaine Cerny was born on Aug. 27, 1943, in Kansas City, Mo. Her mother was Vivian Elaine (West) Cerny, and the man she was told was her father was John Steve Cerny, a soldier in World War II who later worked in the heating and air-conditioning business. She was the oldest of five children.
