Kumari Shreya
While watching ‘Born in Synanon,’ one cannot help but feel intrigued by Charles “Chuck” Dederich, the man who established Synanon and was respected by many. The Paramount+ documentary show’s primary focus is on the group’s former followers and their reasons behind joining it, and many of them cannot help but think of their respect for Dederich as one of the many reasons. Given just how many lives Dedrich ended up influencing, for good or bad, the world cannot help but wonder just how the leader passed away.
Who is Chuck Dederich?
Chuck Dederich was the son of Charles Dederich Sr and Agnes Koutz (a classical concert singer), having been born on March 22, 1913, in called Toledo, Ohio, his birthplace. When he was only four years old, Dedrick lost his father to an accident, which was followed by his brother also passing away when the young Dedrick was 8. Four years later, the 12-year-old was unhappy that his mother married someone he did not like.
By the time Dedrick passed from high school, he had become dependent on alcohol. Though he enrolled at the University of Notre Dame, his time as a student there did not last for more than 18 months, owing to his poor performance. While he had been able to land a few jobs, he often had to give those away as well. Even his personal life suffered as he got married to two different women, but neither marriage lasted for long.
Sometime around the age of 43, Dederich decided to join Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) to turn his life around. However, that is not all that he did, given his tendency to offer his home in California as a place for those in need to use for resting. However, Dederich was not satisfied with how AA was running things and decided to establish a community of his own called Synanon on September 15, 1958. The term was actually created when an addict apparently had gotten confused while trying to say the word “seminar.”
Dederich’s organization soon became immensely famous when he started to attract more and more people who wanted to turn a new leaf and leave their addictions behind. Alongside his third wife, Betty Dederich, he soon expanded the group’s work by starting a new game called. Synanon Square, in which anyone could join a circle of people and yell about anything to anyone, with the caveat that the exposed feelings would not be addressed or acted upon outside of the talks.
This marked the start of Synanon’s transition to a community with a purpose far beyond rehabilitation. The group’s emphasis on not allowing any race-based discrimination within itself made it feel like a safe haven for many at a time when tensions regarding the same were extremely high. Given that Dederich and his wife were also an interracial couple, they served as an example to many. However, things soon took a turn few had expected.
In the Paramount+ documentary, many of Dederich’s decisions in the later years of his life are credited to the loss of Betty. That said, the actions did have far-reaching consequences. By the time Dederich’s third wife passed away, Syannon had already become a sort of insular community where the members were supposed to live fully as a part of a society cut away from everything in the real world. From communal weddings to dedicated schools, there were efforts made to create a new start with Synanon.
However, in the 1970s, accusations were made that Dederich was forcing many of them to have vasectomies, while women were asked to abort their babies after they found out they were pregnant. Some of the men were made to shave their heads, and the kids were being punished physically. Things came to a head on October 10, 1978, when Paul Morantz, an attorney representing some of the former Synanon members, found a rattlesnake in his vehicle.
Given that Morantz was bitten by the snake in his vehicle and had to spend six days in the hospital, the police decided to investigate Synanon members, including Dederich. The Founder did not contest the charges that were levied against him in 1980 in regard to two Synanon security members trying to kill Morantz. For his crime, Dederich was sentenced to five years of probation along with a $5,000 fine. He was also told that he was not allowed to actively run the group he had established. However, not much later, Dederich tried to reclaim Syannon’s losing fame by declaring it a new religion, though that only marked the end of all the tax benefits that the group had been enjoying until that point.
How Did Chuck Dederich Die?
Having been struggling with his health since the 1970s, Chuck Dederich was not doing well in the late 1990s. At the time, he was married to his fourth wife, Ginny Dederich, and was trying to fight the after-effects of the numerous strokes that had plagued him in the early 1980s. During the last days of his life, Dederich had been living in Visalia, California. Ultimately, on February 28, 1997, the Synanon Founder passed away due to cardiorespiratory failure, as shared by his wife.
At the time of his death, Dederich had been a father of two, a son named Chuck Dedrich III, who was born from his first marriage. His daughter, Jady Dederich, was also the child of the Founder’s second wife. From his two children, Dederich was a proud grandfather of three kids. At the time of his death, the then 83-year-old Dederich had been married to his fourth wife for nearly two decades. Despite many of his questionable actions, Dedrich’s impact on those he came in contact with remains undeniable.
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