Roland Theodor Achilles von Kurnatowski Sr. was a Nicaragua-born man best known today as the father of comedian and podcaster Theo Von. Public genealogy records place his birth in Bluefields, Nicaragua, in 1912 and his death in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1996. He also appears in family records under slightly different spellings and dates, which has created confusion online.
The most useful way to understand Roland is to separate documented records from later stories. It is also important not to confuse him with his son, Roland von Kurnatowski Jr., who had a separate life in New Orleans.
Who was Roland von Kurnatowski Sr.?
Family records identify Roland’s full name as Roland Theodor Achilles von Kurnatowski Sr. FamilySearch lists November 29, 1912, as his birth date and Bluefields, Nicaragua, as his birthplace.
An Ancestry record gives November 28, 1912, instead. Other online pages have repeated 1910. Because the major accessible record sets are not perfectly consistent, November 29, 1912 is best treated as the strongest working date rather than an unquestionable detail.
His parents are listed as Theodor Wilhelm Leo von Kurnatowski and Lillian Maud Whittier in Ancestry’s profile. FamilySearch also places Roland within this family and records several siblings.
His early life and family background
Roland was born in Nicaragua and later became connected to New Orleans. A 2025 family-history article in the Am-Pol Eagle places his family within the wider Polish Kurnatowski lineage and explains his father’s connection to Nicaragua.
The same article reports that Roland worked as a mahogany farmer before moving to the United States. That occupation is repeated by several secondary sources, but the strongest genealogy records available do not independently document his full employment history. It is therefore safer to describe mahogany farming as a reported part of his early life, rather than build a detailed career biography around it.
His marriage and connection to Theo Von
FamilySearch records a marriage between Roland and Ruth Joan Barlow on November 18, 1939, in New Orleans. The same record identifies Roland Jr. as a child of that family and provides a separate timeline for him.
Roland later became the father of Theo Von, whose birth name is Theodor Capitani von Kurnatowski III. Theo’s public biography identifies Roland Theodor Achilles von Kurnatowski as his father. Theo Von’s biography on Wikipedia says Roland was 67 when Theo was born in 1980.
That unusually large age gap is one reason Roland’s name appears frequently in stories about Theo’s childhood. Theo has also spoken publicly about his father and the difficult circumstances of his early life. Those stories help explain why readers search for Roland, but they should not be treated as a complete record of Roland’s own life.
What is known about his work?
The available public record does not provide a complete, independently verified career history for Roland. Secondary accounts describe him as a mahogany farmer in Nicaragua and connect him with business activity later in life.
This is an area where online biographies can become misleading. Some pages attribute New Orleans music-venue and real-estate achievements to Roland von Kurnatowski Sr. Those claims should be treated carefully because a different family member, Roland von Kurnatowski Jr., carried the same name and is separately documented in New Orleans.
When did Roland von Kurnatowski Sr. die?
The strongest accessible genealogy and death-index records place Roland’s death on August 18, 1996, in New Orleans, Louisiana. FamilySearch records his death at age 83 and his burial at Metairie Cemetery. Ancestry independently lists the same August 18, 1996 death date.
The cause of death requires more caution. Theo Von’s public biography says his father died of cancer in 1996, when Theo was 16. That account is more appropriate to report than dramatic stories found on lower-quality websites about an alleged hunting or shooting accident. The available records reviewed for this article do not establish such an accident as the cause of death.
Roland Sr. vs. Roland Jr.
One of the biggest problems in researching Roland von Kurnatowski Sr. is the existence of Roland von Kurnatowski Jr. The two should not be treated as the same person.
Ancestry’s records list Roland Jr. as born on April 4, 1951, and deceased on September 1, 2019. By contrast, Roland Sr. was born in 1912 and died in 1996. The younger Roland also appears in records connected with New Orleans, so mixing the two biographies can create major errors.
For readers researching Theo Von, the simplest distinction is this: Roland von Kurnatowski Sr. was Theo Von’s father, while Roland von Kurnatowski Jr. was a separate younger family member.
What can actually be confirmed?
The clearest public record supports a basic biography. Roland Theodor Achilles von Kurnatowski Sr. was born in Nicaragua in 1912, married Ruth Joan Barlow in New Orleans in 1939, later became the father of Theo Von, and died in New Orleans in August 1996.
Some details remain less certain. His exact birth date varies by one day across genealogy records, while his complete occupational history is not well documented in authoritative sources. His net worth is also not reliably documented, so an exact figure should not be presented as fact.
FAQs
Who was Roland von Kurnatowski Sr.?
Roland Theodor Achilles von Kurnatowski Sr. was a Nicaragua-born man who became known publicly as the father of comedian and podcaster Theo Von.
Was Roland von Kurnatowski Sr. Theo Von’s father?
Yes. Public biographies of Theo Von identify Roland Theodor Achilles von Kurnatowski as Theo’s father.
When was Roland von Kurnatowski Sr. born?
FamilySearch records November 29, 1912, while an Ancestry profile gives November 28, 1912. Some secondary pages also repeat 1910, so the exact date should be treated with caution.
Where was Roland von Kurnatowski Sr. born?
Genealogy records place his birth in Bluefields, Nicaragua.
When did Roland von Kurnatowski Sr. die?
Records from FamilySearch and Ancestry place his death on August 18, 1996, in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Where was Roland von Kurnatowski Sr. buried?
FamilySearch records his burial at Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans.
Who was Roland von Kurnatowski Sr.’s wife?
FamilySearch records his 1939 marriage to Ruth Joan Barlow. Later family accounts also discuss his relationship with Gina Capitani, Theo Von’s mother, but the complete legal history of his relationships is not established by the sources reviewed here.
Was Roland von Kurnatowski Sr. the same person as Roland Jr.?
No. Roland Sr. was born in 1912 and died in 1996. Roland Jr. was born in 1951 and died in 2019.
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