Hank Aaron, a late American professional baseball right fielder who played 23 seasons in the MLB, passed away in his sleep in his Atlanta residence on January 22, 2021, at the age of 86.
The late Hank Aaron, a 1957 World Series Champion, was married twice and was a proud father of several children.
Hank Aaron met his first wife, Barbara Lucas, while he was playing for the Jacksonville Braves in the South Atlantic (Sally) League as one of the first five non-whites to appear in the league in 1952.
Barbara Lucas, a business student at the time, decided to attend a Jacksonville game and was impressed by the late Hank Aaron’s performance. They quickly connected and began their romantic relationship.
Barbara Lucas came from an athletic family and was the sister of late American professional baseball infielder and the first African-American general manager in the MLB with the Atlanta Braves. William ‘Bill’ Lucas.
Furthermore, Hank Aaron and Barbara Lucas tied the knot on October 6, 1953, at a very young age of 19, and were married for 18 years before their divorce.
The former couple welcomed their first child, a daughter named Gaile, within a year of their marriage.
Likewise, years later, Hank Aaron and his first wife, Barbara Lucas, welcomed their second child and first son, Henry ‘Hank’ Aaron Jr., in March 1957.
A year later, on December 15, 1958, late, Hank Aaron and Barbara Lucas were blessed with twins, Lary and Gary.
Tragically, Gary passed away in the hospital, but the family continued to grow as Hank and Barbara welcomed their fifth child and youngest daughter, Dorinda Aaron Bowen, in 1962.
The couple first lived on North 29th Street in the Bronzeville section of Milwaukee and later became the first and only black family allowed to move to the suburb of Mequon.
Unfortunately, Hank Aaron and Barbara Lucas began having marital difficulties in 1966 and divorced, eventually leading to their divorce in February 1971.
While it is unclear whether Barbara Lucas remarried, Hank Aaron married Billye Jewel SuberWilliams, a former Atlanta television journalist and widow of civil rights activist Samuel Woodrow Williams, two years after their divorce in 1973.
The couple was happily married for over 50 years before Hank’s passing in 2021, and Hank Aaron also adopted Billye Williams’ daughter, Ceci, from her marriage to the late Samuel Williams.
Hank Aaron’s First Wife, Barbara Lucas, Passed Away in 2022
Almost two years after Hank Aaron’s demise, his former wife, Barbara Jean Lucas Aaron, passed away at the age of 88.
Born in 1934, Barbara Lucas passed away on December 30, 2022, in Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia.
Her funeral and memorial service were held on January 7, 2023, at Elizabeth’s Chapel of Alfonso Dawson Mortuary, located at 3000 MLK Jr. Drive SW, Atlanta, Georgia.
While Barbara lived a private life, she worked at J.E.B. Stuart Middle School and Premier Day Care for several years.
The late Hank Aaron and Barbara Lucas raised all of their children to be successful in their respective careers.
While very little information is available about their daughters, Gail and Dorinda, they prefer to maintain a private life, as do their sons, Larry and Henry Jr., who followed in late Hank’s footsteps in sports.
Their eldest son, Henry Aaron Jr., played football and baseball at Marist School and the University of Tennessee at Martin, while their second son, Lary Aaron, recently joined a new summer baseball league, the Legacy League, as a team owner.
Drafted in 1981 by the Atlanta Braves in the 32nd round, Lary played two seasons with the Braves, then worked as a baseball scout for the Milwaukee Brewers. He also played baseball at Florida A&M and Marist School.
In Case You Didn’t Know
- Major League Baseball recently paid a beautiful tribute to the late Hank Aaron on July 15, 2025.
- Hank Aaron won 25 All-Star honors, three Gold Glove Awards, two NL batting championships, and several other honors throughout his career.
- He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982 and the Braves Hall of Fame.
