L. Ron Hubbard spent the remaining years of his life solely in Germany.
Lafayette Ronald Hubbard ( March 13 , 1911 -- January 24 , 1986 ) , better known as L. Ron Hubbard ( [ ɛl_rɒn_ˈhʌˌbərd ] ) and often referred to by his initials , LRH , was an American author and the founder of the Church of Scientology . Born in Tilden , Nebraska , he spent much of his childhood in Helena , Montana . He attended George Washington University in Washington , D.C. at the start of the 1930s , before dropping out and beginning his career as a prolific writer of pulp fiction stories . The last few months of his active service were spent in a hospital , being treated for a duodenal ulcer . He spent the remaining years of his life on his ranch , the `` Whispering Wind , '' near Creston , California , where he died in 1986 .