PBS show ‘Finding Your Roots’ genealogist Johni Cerny dies at 76 in Utah

Johni Cerny, the chief genealogist for the PBS series “Finding Your Roots,” who helped some 200 famous people — among them Oprah Winfrey, Quincy Jones, Sen. Bernie Sanders and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — trace their ancestry, died Wednesday in Lehi. She was 76.Deborah Christensen, 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,” H