What To Know About Ron DeSantis' Parents, Karen And Ron

Correction 7/30/2023: A previous version of this article inaccurately stated Governor Ron DeSantis' father died in 2015. DeSantis' sister died that year, not his father.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has officially announced his bid for the presidential seat. The Republican candidate has been a controversial figure in his state for his conservative views, including the notorious "Don't Say Gay" bill, which limits the instruction of sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools. He recently enacted a six-week abortion law, sparking further division in the state. Despite all of this, DeSantis is ready to take his views to the White House, and people are eager to know more about the possible first family that he'll be bringing along with him.

While some are familiar with his wife, Casey, for her previous career in journalism and media, his parents — Karen Rogers and Ronald Daniel DeSantis — have remained a bit of a mystery. Even during his political career, they did not always join him during various events and appearances. However, with DeSantis' sights set on leading the country, the lives of his parents may soon be put on full display.

The mother of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has done a great job of staying out of the public eye, though she was present when her son was sworn into the U.S. House in 2013. Her life had an interesting start. She grew up in Poland but came to the United States with her family when she was younger. Rogers attended Youngstown State University in Ohio, where she met her husband, Ronald Daniel DeSantis. They eventually relocated to Jacksonville, Florida in the late '70s before welcoming their son Ron in 1978. The couple welcomed daughter Christina in 1985 while living in Orlando before eventually relocating to Dunedin, Florida.

Sadly, the couple's daughter passed away in 2015 while in London. Rogers took action to remember Christina by launching a GoFundMe to raise money for a scholarship at Florida State University, where Christina studied before moving abroad. These days, Rogers helps look after her son's three children Madison, Mason, and Mamie. As a retired critical-care nurse, she is used to looking after others — a quality that will come in handy as her family prepares to be inundated with media during a busy campaign run.

Ronald Daniel DeSantis, Ron DeSantis' father, was born in Aliquippa in western Pennsylvania. Unlike his father (Ron's grandfather), who worked in the steel industry, Ronald worked for Nielsen, the TV ratings company. After living in Michigan for a time, he moved with his family to Florida to be close to Nielsen Media's headquarters in Dunedin.

Now 77 years old, Ronald and his wife, Karen Rogers, still live in the ranch home where they raised their children. Like his wife, Ronald prefers a quiet life and he is reticent about giving interviews, based on some negative experiences in the past. However, in his youth, Ronald was reputed to be an extrovert with a well-known sense of humor. "He was a jokester, he really was," Bernie Tunno, one of Ronald's Youngstown State University fraternity brothers, informed NBC News. "He would always do little weird stuff." As an example, Tunno remembered Ronald arriving at a party "with his nose taped to one side of his face and one eye closed." 

While in college, Ronald was also known as a music enthusiast. As a testament to his fandom for Dion DiMucci, Ronald gave his son the middle name Dion after the "Runaround Sue" singer. When DiMucci heard the news that a presidential hopeful had been named after him, he told Mother Jones, "Ron DeSantis' father has great taste in Rock 'n' Roll. God bless America."