Jun 12
Heavy Metal Genealogy: Mike Patton Part 2 — Mistakes Were Made
Previously on Heavy Metal Genealogy, I announced to the world that Mike Patton was Finnish. This announcement was even used to throw egg on Dave Mustaine’s face, who claimed Finnish ancestry through the Mustaines. (They’re from Ireland but go ahead and see if you still believe me by the time you reach the end.)
So the only one who’s finished is me. I shall explain.
I recently started volunteering at WikiTree, which is described as “Wikipedia for Genealogists.” My cousin will start sending me barf emojis after reading this but let me tell you, it’s intense, like cite all your sources or DIE intense. Very metal. But they give you a special badge if you add 1,000 people to their virtual tree within a month. (That’s not as metal but for those of you counting, I’m at 595 for June.) So to get the 1,000 badge I thought I’d add the family of the King of Brilliant Musical Weirdos, Mike Patton, whom I’ve been worshipping since 1989 when I was 16 and he was an old man of 21.
It was during today’s family reunion that I learned that Mike Patton is not Finnish. He’s step-Finnish, if that’s a thing. Mike Patton is actually … French-Canadian, which means he joins the ranks of fellow French-Canadian singers Celine Dion and Madonna. And happily, for those of you familiar with my previous Mike Patton piece, he is still related to Queen Ming and her father, Christopher Columbus — they’re on his father’s side.
When I first researched Mike’s family, his mother’s maiden name showed up as Carole Anne Jarvela. I also found what I thought was her biological parents’ wedding announcement from 1950, and thought, “Wow, Mike Patton looks just like his grandfather!” Also, Jarvela had been Järvilä. “Wow, one name, two umlauts, that explains EVERYTHING about Mike Patton!” But looks and umlauts can be deceiving, so much so that I didn’t put two and two together and realize that Carole Anne was born four years earlier. Shotgun weddings are not uncommon, but they usually happen sooner, or that’s a pretty lousy shotgun.
When I researched today I saw that a Jarvela step-cousin had posted a picture to Ancestry.com with the caption: “Mr and Mrs Robert Vernon DuBord, Barbara’s first husband and Carole Anne’s father.” Even though a relative wrote this and he most probably knows more about his family than I do, I was still hung up on looks, and this fellow in his Navy uniform was adorable but looked nothing like Mike Patton. So I checked and indeed, Robert Vernon DuBord and Barbara Jeanne Henderson were married January 20, 1946, nearly nine months to the day before Carole Anne Jarvela née DuBord was born. DuBord died two years later age 24, I’m not sure how. Barbara then married Paul Jarvela on April Fool’s Day 1950.
Robert Vernon DuBord was born in 1924 in Wisconsin to William DuBord and Viola Guerin, both Michigan kids with French-Canadian parents. Actually, in Viola’s case, her mother was only part French and her father had the glorious name Hormisdas Guerin. (He went by Henry.) Robert, known as Bob DuBord, looked like a nice guy, I feel badly he died so young, as I’m sure his widow, who’d married him at 22 and lost him at 24, did as well. Barbara and her second husband (who may have formally adopted Carole Anne, since she went by Jarvela until she married Pat Patton) divorced in 1973, and Barbara died a year later, age 42. I’m not sure how here, either. (Coincidentally, Barbara was born Barbara McDonald and then adopted by her step-father, Ed Henderson. Also, she was born in Yreka, CA and died in Eureka, CA. Maybe Yreka/Eureka explains … ah, never mind.)
Before I discovered Bob DuBord I saw this photo of Paul Jarvela’s parents, William and Senja, and thought, “I cannot believe Mike Patton looks like both his great-grandparents!” Sorry, Dave Mustaine. I am still gonna get that badge, though.
(Also, don’t forget to clap a few times and follow me!)
More Heavy Metal Genealogy:
Tawny Kitaen: From Uzbekistan to Stardom
James Hetfield and the Salem Witch Trials
Mike Patton Is Related to Columbus
