Sonny Barger (1938-2022) Hells Angels Founder
Sonny Barger (1938-2022) Hells Angels Founder, Find a Grave Sonny Barger find a grave, Sonny Barger dead at 83, Sonny Barger Death and burial details
| BIRTH | |
|---|---|
| DEATH | 29 June 2022 (aged 83) |
| BIRTH NAME | Ralph Hubert Barger |
| SPOUSE | Zorana Barger (Married 2005) |
| PARENTS | Kathryn Carmella Barger, Ralph Hubert Barger |
| CRIMINAL PENALTY | 10 years-to-life imprisonment (1973); 4 years’ imprisonment (1989) |
| OCCUPATION | Author and Actor |
| NATIONALITY | American |
Sonny Barger Wiki, Biography, Family, Life, Age and Death
Ralph Hubert Barger better known as Sonny Barger, was an American outlaw biker, author and actor who was a founding member of the Oakland, California chapter of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club in 1957. He authored five books, and appeared on television and in film.
Ralph Hubert Barger was born in Modesto, California on October 8, 1938. His mother abandoned the family when Barger was four months old, leaving him and his older sister Shirley to be raised by their grandmother and alcoholic father.
Growing up in Oakland, he was suspended from school several times for assaulting teachers, and he often fought with other boys. He dropped out of school in the tenth grade.
Although many of his school friends became drug addicts, Barger worked at a grocery store and enlisted in the Army aged sixteen in 1955, but was given an honorable discharge fourteen months later when it was discovered that he had forged his birth certificate in order to be able to join.
After his return from the Army, Barger drifted between menial jobs and lived with his father in a single residence at a hotel, later moving in with his sister and her children.
Sonny Barger Personal Life and Death
Barger’s first wife Elsie Mae George died on February 1, 1967 from an embolism. In 1969, he began a relationship with Sharon Gruhlke, a former beauty queen from Livermore. Barger married Gruhlke while he was incarcerated at Folsom State Prison in 1973.
In 1983, Barger was diagnosed with throat cancer after years of heavy smoking. His diagnosis and treatment took place at Fort Miley VA Hospital in San Francisco. Having stage III laryngeal cancer, a total laryngectomy with bilateral functional neck dissections was performed by Michael Tralla MD, FACS. Consequently, due to his vocal cords being removed, he learned to vocalize using the muscles in his esophagus.
In 1998, Barger returned to Arizona, where he had previously served a prison sentence, with his third wife Noel and stepdaughter Sarrah, joining the Hells Angels’ Cave Creek chapter and working as a motorcycle mechanic.
He married his fourth wife, Zorana, on June 25, 2005.
Barger underwent surgery as a result of prostate cancer in 2012. His prostate was removed and he was subsequently declared free of cancer.
