L. RON HUBBARD, FOUNDED SCIENTOLOGY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00806R000100200068-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 9, 2010
• Sequence Number: 68
• Publication Date: January 29, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/09: CIA-RDP90-00806R000100200068-4
ARTICLE APP R D
ON PAGE
WASHINGTON TINES
29 January 1986
obituaries
Ron Hubbard, founded Scientology
By Jacqueline Adams
TH5 VASHINOTON TIMES
L. Ron Hubbard, 74, a science fic-
writer and the reclusive founder
of the Church of Scientology, died
.cy at his ranch near San Luis
Obispo, Calif., after a stroke.
~""y}p Rev Heber C. Jentzch, pres-
idntof the Church of Scientology
p~4 " tional, said that Mr. Hub-
r s body had become "an impedi-
ment to his research into the spirit
9, man" and that he had discarded
his body.
. e He announced to his friends a
'W ek' ago that he was leaving his
badyt. He knew the time was com-
'tnW "said Mr. Jentzch, who assumed
the presidency of the church after
Mr., Hubbard resigned in 1981. "We
will continue to work for the goals
thav4. Ron Hubbard set forth more
tlian:ever."
r~` Mt Hubbard founded the first
hutch of Scientology in Washing-
ton in 1952 and changed the way mil-
I i s= of people thought of religion
through his novel and controversial
`. ebrjes on the mind.
The Church of Scientology grew
to, be, one of the richest and most
prominent of the new religions by
A he 1970s. But after Mr. Hubbard
disappeared from public life and
typnst;erred control of the church to
a group called the Sea Orgs in 1982,
tt}e church was beset by bitter inter-
nal-power struggles and court bat-
tles-
r. Hubbard had not been seen in
public for several years despite sev- bugging government agencies,
eral attempts to force him to appear which group leaders claimed had
in court in a series of lawsuits filed harassed the church for decades.
by disgruntled former Scien- In 1984, the U.S. Mix Court upheld
tologists, who claimed he led a cult the removal of tax-exempt status
that brainwashed its members. from the Church of Scientology of
Reports that Mr. Hubbard had California saying that branch of the
been dead for several years soon church "does not qualify for exemp-
arose. His eldest son, Ronald E. tion from taxation ... because it is
DeWolf, who changed his last name operated for a substantial commer-
after a row with his father, in a law- cial purpose and because its net
suit filed in 1982 claimed that Mr. earnings benefit L. Ron Hubbard,
Hubbard was either dead or men- his family" and a private trust con-
tally incompetent, but a judge ruled trolled by key church members.
the author was alive. The court ordered the California
Until his book "Dianetics: The church to pay $1.4 million in back
Modern Science of Mental Health" taxes for the years 1970 through
was published in 1948 Mr. Hubbard 1972.
was known primarily as a science Last summer, a jury in Portland,
fiction writer. Ore., awarded $39 million to a for-
The book made American best- mer member of the group who al-
seller lists, and Dianetics became a leged she had been defrauded by its
national fad. claims that it could improve her in-
Where other religions might telligence, eyesight and creativity
promise salvation in the afterlife, Another judge later dismissed the
Scientology, based on Mr. Hubbard's award and ordered a new trial.
seminal work, offered an immediate The Church of Scientolo al
solution to life's problems. With the has filed and won a number of law-
help of a trained Scientologist, the suits challenainit the FBI Central
church claimed people could clear me t once A enc National ecu
themselves of emotional blocks rity Agency an ntern ]Revenue
called "engrams" and reach full er rcHubbard was born in Tilden,
physical and mental potential. Neb. He attended George Washing-
A federal judge in 1971 ruled ton University in 1934 and Princeton
Scientology was a religion entitled to University during the 1940s.
protection under the First During World War II, Mr. Hub-
Amendment, but the organization's bard served in the U.S. Navy as com-
legal entanglements continued. mander of a submarine chaser.
In 1979, Mr. Hubbard's wife, Mary Before founding the Church of
Sue, and 10 other Scientologists Scientology, he was a disc jockey for
were convicted of burglarizing and WOL radio in Washington.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/09: CIA-RDP90-00806R000100200068-4