Scientology’s reclusive ‘president,’ 82-year-old Heber Jentzsch, tells a niece he’s doing fine

 
Tammy Clark tells us she sent a letter to her uncle Heber Jentzsch in November, hoping to find out how he’s doing as he turned 82. This week, she received a reply.

But she’s suspicious about it.

Heber Jentzsch is a major name in Scientology. In the 1980s, church leader David Miscavige named Jentzsch to the post of “president” of the Church of Scientology International. It was largely a ceremonial position — Miscavige maintains absolute rule of the entire Scientology movement and all of its many entities through his position as Chairman of the Board of the Religious Technology Center and captain of the Sea Organization — but Jentzsch became a well-known figure largely because he was so accessible to the press.

In the 1980s and into the 1990s, Jentzsch made appearances on radio and television on behalf of Scientology, and his background as an entertainer — with a few credits in movies — made him a smart choice to be put forward as the face and voice of the church. He was affable, developed relationships with some journalists, but could also be confrontational when the situation called for it.

At some point, however, Jentzsch fell from favor, as all Scientology officials do at one point or another, and he was replaced as a spokesman. Into the early 2000s, Heber made occasional appearances on stage at some of Scientology’s major events (see above), but he was being seen by the outside world less and less. (As far as we know, Jentzsch has never been removed from his post as president CSI, though his letterhead today is missing that designation.)

Then, in 2004, when Miscavige created the notorious prison for his own executives — “The Hole” at Int Base near Hemet, California — Heber was one of its first inhabitants. He has rarely been seen outside of Int Base since then.

One exception was the funeral for his son, Alexander Jentzsch, who died in 2012 at only 27. Alex was the son of Heber and his former wife Karen de la Carriere, who had left Scientology in 2010, and who was prevented from attending the funeral service. She tells us that credible accounts have reached her that Heber suffered a stroke in recent years and is in no shape to have written a letter like this. Says Karen…

We know from a relatively new defector from Int Base that Heber has had a major stroke, and that Sea Org member Nettie Alcock is assigned to look after him. But of course nothing that is bad public relations can ever be sent out to the public. After all, they are supposed to be super elite high-spiritual beings, almost supernatural “OTs,” and not mere mortals that have strokes and so on. Heber was dear to my heart. We went our separate ways but I will always think of him as a good man and it just too bad that he will die in the “prison of belief.” He has been beaten and pulverized by David Miscagive and spent seven years in the Hole and was never permitted to be a father to our son Alexander Jentzsch. Heber believes in it all.

Tammy herself says she was surprised to get any response at all to her letter, and she has doubts that Heber himself penned it.

I sent him a birthday card and a letter. I did not mention anything about Scientology. I asked him how he was doing, talked about a few memories that we had shared when I was young. My Dad was in the army and we were stationed on New Jersey and Heber came out for a week and we did a lot of sight seeing. I was very young. But I had the memories of him being hapoy and funny. So I mentioned his humor. This was before he became a Scientologist. I asked if he knew that my dad had passed away and just told him that I had thought about him often throughout the years. Just general stuff. I did not mention any other family members as this letter did that I received back. Anyway, it was more of my wish to find out how he was. I was careful about what I said. I didn’t want any repercussions for him. I was very curious to know if he would truly respond, or if it would be censored or if he would receive it at all.

We’ll let you be the judge of the letter’s veracity. Give it a read and then tell us what you think…

Heber C. Jentzsch

May 4th, 2018

Dear Tammy,

I did remember you letter from last November. Sorry I am so late in responding.

My 80th birthday was great. I celebrated with quite a number of my family and friends. I flew Richard and Sherry Baker out to Los Angeles and we spent a couple of days together. Sherry is the daughter of our oldest brother, Carl. We had a wonderful time and went to see Cirque de Sole and enjoyed lots of good food at the various restaurants, while we reminisced about the decades. It was really nice to catch up with them.

You ask if my sense of humor persists… I could tell you many stories that fill the years of my life and the sense of humor that I continued and do continue to this day.

I have led a very exciting and fulfilling life. Also my singing and acting opened many doors for me. I have sung and performed for Presidents, holy men, leaders, celebrities and even criminals.

I am rich in memories and in friends. I hope to write some of those years down.

I spoke with Jennifer recently, the last child of your grandfather. She just had her 8th child at the age of 45.

I still try and work a bit each day, even if only for a couple of hours, as I feel this keeps me active in my 83rd year. Not to mention, that I enjoy it immensely.

Some exciting news: we now have our own Scientology TV station. It is running 24/7 and you can hook into it at any time. It is channel 320 on DirecTV and you can also stream it on the internet at Scientology.TV. It will answer any questions you may have had of what I devoted my life to and gives all the basic principles of my religion. Check it out and let me know your thoughts.

We also recently opened a new Church in Salt Lake City. You are welcome to tour it at anytime. It is open for anyone.

Love to you.

Heber

6331 Hollywood Boulevard, Suite 1200, Los Angeles, California 90028

 
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Make your plans now!

HOWDYCON UPDATE

Wow, we’re a little more than a month out, and Chee Chalker is working hard to make sure things are going to run smoothly at this year’s HowdyCon in Chicago, June 21-23. As in past years, we’re looking forward to meeting readers of the Bunker, culminating in Saturday night’s main event.

The biggest difference this year is that our Saturday night event is separate from that evening’s dinner. Chee is setting up an inexpensive pizza dinner that you don’t need to pay for ahead of time, after which we’ll walk over to the theater where our event, hosted by Chicago Fire star Christian Stolte, will take place. Because it’s a separate event, we’re asking that you pay $10 each to get into the Saturday night event, which will help us recoup what the Bunker paid for the venue. (We have never made a penny on our HowdyCon meetups, we only try to break even.)

Please email your proprietor (tonyo94 AT gmail) in order to reserve your spot for Saturday night’s main event. Seating is limited, and we’re going to have some really interesting people on stage and they may make a few announcements that you don’t want to miss.

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on May 14, 2018 at 07:00

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