Oakland, California, Emily Compagno’s parents, John Compagno and Katherine Bertsch, played a significant role in her upbringing and instilled values that have contributed to her success.
Her Italian, Bohemian, English, and German heritage is a notable part of her background.
Highlights
- Emily Compagno’s parents, John Compagno and Katherine Bertsch, raised her alongside her two sisters, Natalie and Julietta.
- Her father is of Italian descent from Sicily, and her mother is of English, Bohemian, and German descent.
- Their family has a history of serving the United States, and Emily remembers her military family on Memorial Day.
Emily has established herself as a Fox News host, appearing on Outnumbered and Gutfeld! She also hosts The FOX True Crime Podcast with Emily Compagno on Fox News Radio.
Previously, she was captain of the Oakland Raiders cheerleading squad, the Raiderettes. As an NFL ambassador, she promoted the NFL brand in Beijing and Shanghai.
USO selected her as one of five NFL cheerleaders to visit U.S. troops stationed in Iraq and Kuwait.
Simultaneously, after passing the California Bar, she worked as a criminal defense attorney in San Francisco. She then became a Senior Judicial Extern for John T. Noonan at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Emily accepted a contributor and legal analyst position at Fox News in 2018 and was a semi-regular co-host of the weekday talk show The Five. Later, she hosted a show, Crimes That Changed America, on March 9, 2020.
Emily Compagno’s Parents Have Diverse Ethnic Background
Emily Compagno, the daughter of John Compagno and Katherine Bertsch, was born on November 9, 1979, in Oak Knoll Naval Hospital, Oakland, California.
John is of Italian descent from Sicily, and Katherine is of English, Bohemian, and German descent.
The television host’s parents named her Emily Rose Compagno and raised her alongside two sisters, Natalie and Julietta, in El Cerrito, California. Natalie is a neurosurgeon, and Julietta is a lawyer.
John, a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, served as a U.S. Navy Medical Corps Commander in the Vietnam War.
Later, he became a pathologist at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) and the Blood Bank Director at Oak Knoll Naval Hospital.
John currently runs Ardiri Winery and Vineyard, which means taking risks in Sicilian.
On the other hand, Katherine was a flight attendant, which influenced Emily’s career path and worldview.
It’s impossible to express the value & influence of a lifetime of her unconditional love & support, her unfailing guidance & encouragement. From stuffed animal surgeries to Raiders season tickets, from Middle Earth to traveling the world, my mom has been my greatest inspiration & #1 cheerleader, my model for joy, brave courage, & a limitless compassionate heart.
Emily Compagno
Emily grew up in a strict family household, where she had to prepare her room for inspection and spend family bonding time besides the kids’ activities.
Despite her parent’s divorce, the Fox News host credits her parents for instilling in her the values of hard work, determination, and resilience.
Emily Compagno Remembers Her Military Family On Memorial Day
Emily Compagno’s family has a history of serving the United States, and she is committed to bringing awareness to the needs of United States service members and veterans.
She was awarded the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps Cadet of the Quarter Award but did not complete ROTC training.
Emily’s relatives fought overseas and passed away all over the European battlefields, from Flanders Fields to the Russian Front.
Her great-great-uncle, Joseph Lorenz, a Private 1C in the U.S. Army, was a member of the American Expeditionary Force, Rainbow Division, and died fighting in World War I in France.
Her great-great aunt, Luella Lorenz Cochran, was a field nurse anesthetist on the front lines, and she served in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps in World War II.
Moreover, nine members of her immediate family were in the armed services during the Second World War.
Emily was named after her great-great-grandmother Rosa Lorenz, who traveled on the USS America along with 350 other Gold Star mothers to visit their children buried in foreign soil.
Her great-grandfather William Bertsch and uncle Joe underwent a frightening battle injury in France. William was born in 1895 and served in the U.S. Army throughout World War I and II.
Similarly, her great-great cousin Anton Lorenz was an Asiatic Fleet’s 1920s Yangtze River Patrol member and a U.S. Navy cook. He was one of the survivors of Pearl Harbor.
Her second cousin, Chris Baker, and his wife, Angie, were U.S. Navy P-3 and EP-3 pilots supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
The Fox News hosts knew all these stories, as her mother is a genealogist and a family storyteller. After decades of research and interviews, Katherine describes all the war stories as the same.
Families never recover from the loss of their loved ones, and their memories and legacy live on through sharing their stories. Thus, Emily’s mother ensured they knew them all.
Additional Information
- Emily Compagno was a president of the Federalist Society and articles editor of the Intellectual Property Bulletin at the University of San Francisco School of Law.
- She passed the Washington bar and worked in Cape Town, South Africa, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
- She is engaged after divorcing Peter Riley, but her fiance’s name isn’t Jon Skoog.
- As of 2025, her net worth is estimated at $2 million.
