Editing Hank Aaron (section)

==Personal life==
[[File:Hank and Billye Aaron 2002.jpg|thumb|Aaron with his second wife, Billye]]
Aaron's first marriage was to Barbara Lucas in 1953. They had five children: Gary, Lary, Dorinda, Gaile, and Hank Jr. He divorced Barbara in 1971 and married [[Billye Aaron|Billye Suber Williams]] on November 13, 1973. Aaron adopted Billye's daughter, Ceci, from her first marriage to civil rights activist [[Samuel Woodrow Williams]].<ref name="CNN">{{cite news|title=Hank Aaron Fast Facts|url=https://www.cnn.com/2013/05/30/us/hank-aaron-fast-facts/index.html|work=[[CNN]]|access-date=April 22, 2019|archive-date=April 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190423032301/https://www.cnn.com/2013/05/30/us/hank-aaron-fast-facts/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Despite being publicly and professionally known as "Hank," Aaron preferred to go by his given name, "Henry."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Goldman |first1=Tom |title=Remembering Baseball Legend Hank Aaron |url=https://www.npr.org/2021/01/23/959884089/remembering-baseball-legend-hank-aaron |access-date=January 6, 2022 |work=[[NPR]] |date=January 23, 2021 |language=en}}</ref> The former name came around when Don Davidson, the public relations director for the Milwaukee Braves, began to refer to him as such in an effort to make the quiet, soft-spoken player seem more accessible to the fans and the press.<ref name="sabr-aaron"/>

Aaron's great–nephew, [[Kimani Vidal]], was selected by the [[Los Angeles Chargers]] in the [[2024 NFL draft]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=DeRosa |first=Theo |date=April 27, 2024 |title=Hammerin' Hank's great-nephew taken in NFL Draft |url=https://www.mlb.com/news/hank-aaron-s-relative-kimani-vidal-taken-in-nfl-draft |access-date=May 27, 2024 |website=[[MLB.com]] |publisher=[[MLB Advanced Media]] |language=en}}</ref>

=== Religion ===
Born and raised a [[Baptist]],<ref>[[#Aaron|Aaron and Wheeler]], p. 16.</ref> Aaron converted to [[Roman Catholic|Catholicism]] in 1959 at age 25, together with his family. He and his wife first became interested in the faith after the birth of their first child, whom they [[Baptism|baptized]] immediately.<ref>{{cite web |date=May 6, 1959 |title=Hank Aaron, Family Enter Church |url=https://washingtondigitalnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=CATHNWP19590508.2.149&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN------- |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122160304/https://washingtondigitalnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=CATHNWP19590508.2.149&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN------- |archive-date=January 22, 2021 |access-date=January 22, 2021 |website=The Catholic Northwest Progress |via=Washington Digital Newspapers}}</ref> A friendship with a priest later helped lead to Hank and his wife's conversion. Aaron was known to frequently read [[Thomas à Kempis]]' 15th-century book ''[[The Imitation of Christ]]'', which he kept in his locker.<ref>{{cite web |title=Famous Religious Conversions Hank Aaron |url=https://www.trivia-library.com/b/famous-religious-conversions-hank-aaron.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124184804/https://trivia-library.com/b/famous-religious-conversions-hank-aaron.htm |archive-date=January 24, 2021 |access-date=January 22, 2021 |website=Trivia Library}}</ref>

In an interview in 1991, Aaron credited the priest, Fr. Michael Sablica, with helping him grow as a person in the 1950s. "He taught me what life was all about. But he was more than just a religious friend of mine, he was a friend because he talked as if he was not a priest sometimes." Active in the [[civil rights movement]], the priest encouraged Aaron to be more publicly vocal about causes he believed in.<ref name="Pattison">{{cite web|last=Pattison |first=Mark|date=January 22, 2021|title=Baseball's home run king Hank Aaron fought racism on and off the field|website=[[National Catholic Reporter]]|url= https://www.ncronline.org/news/people/baseballs-home-run-king-hank-aaron-fought-racism-and-field}}</ref>

Sablica also encouraged him to "attend [[Mass in the Catholic Church|Mass]] every Sunday" during [[Spring training|Spring Training]], to which he responded with the [[Racism|racist]] realities of the day: "[In [[Bradenton, Florida|Bradenton]]], they won't let me go to Mass."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Baldwin |first=Stanley C. |title=Bad Henry |date=1974 |publisher=[[Chilton Company|Chilton Book Co.]] |isbn=0-8019-5960-8 |oclc=858863}}</ref> Sablica said in an interview that he wouldn't have blamed Aaron if he stopped practicing.<ref name="Pattison" /> Aaron indeed attended Friendship Baptist Church toward the end of his life, noting in his autobiography that he didn't remain a practicing Catholic for very long after converting.<ref>[[#Aaron|Aaron and Wheeler]], p. 161.</ref>

=== Hobbies and health ===
Aaron was a long-time fan of the [[Cleveland Browns]], having attended many games in disguise in their "[[Dawg Pound]]" seating section.<ref>{{cite web |last=Pokorny |first=Chris |date=May 27, 2017 |title=Hank Aaron explains how he is a fan of the Browns |url=https://www.dawgsbynature.com/2017/5/27/15705682/hank-aaron-explains-how-he-is-a-fan-of-the-browns |website=Dawgs By Nature |publisher=[[SB Nation]]}}</ref>

In 1986, Hank Aaron made a guest appearance in "Just Another Fox in the Crowd", episode 30 of [[Crazy Like a Fox (TV series)|''Crazy Like a Fox'']].

In 1994, Aaron and his wife established the Chasing the Dream Foundation which awarded the Hank Aaron Chasing The Dream Scholarship to members of the [[Boys & Girls Clubs of America]].<ref>{{cite news |date=December 14, 2018 |title=Five Gene Matthews Boys & Girls Club members receive Hank Aaron Chasing The Dream Scholarships |url=https://bgcsdc.org/news-and-press/five-gene-matthews-boys-girls-club-members-receive-hank-aaron-chasing-the-dream-scholarships.html |access-date=March 15, 2024 |work=[[Boys & Girls Clubs of America]]}}</ref>

Aaron lived in the Atlanta area.<ref name="AL" /> In July 2013, media reported that his home was burglarized with jewelry and two [[BMW]] vehicles having been stolen. The cars were later recovered.<ref name="AL">{{cite web |last=Inabinett |first=Mark |date=July 19, 2013 |title=Police recover both of Hank Aaron's stolen cars after Atlanta home burglarized |url=http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2013/07/police_recover_both_of_hank_aa.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413144608/http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2013/07/police_recover_both_of_hank_aa.html |archive-date=April 13, 2014 |access-date=May 5, 2014 |website=[[List of Advance subsidiaries|AL.com]]}}</ref>

Aaron suffered from [[arthritis]] and had a partial hip replacement after a fall in 2014.<ref>{{cite web |date=February 15, 2014 |title=Hank Aaron has hip surgery |url=https://www.espn.in/mlb/story/_/id/10460762/hank-aaron-partial-hip-replacement-surgery |website=[[ESPN]] |agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref>

On January 5, 2021, Aaron publicly received a [[COVID-19]] vaccination with the [[Moderna COVID-19 vaccine]] at the [[Morehouse School of Medicine]] at Atlanta, Georgia.<ref>{{cite news |date=January 6, 2021 |title=Hank Aaron gets COVID-19 vaccine to send message |url=https://www.espn.in/mlb/story/_/id/30658279/hank-aaron-gets-covid-19-vaccine-send-message |work=[[ESPN]] |agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref> He and several other Black American public figures, including activist Joe Beasley, [[Andrew Young]], and [[Louis Wade Sullivan|Louis Sullivan]], did so to demonstrate the safety of the vaccine and encourage other Black Americans to do the same.<ref name="Schrade">{{cite news |last1=Schrade |first1=Brad |last2=Stirgus |first2=Eric |title=Health experts urge confidence in vaccine after superstar's death |date=January 22, 2021 |url=https://www.ajc.com/news/coronavirus/health-experts-urge-confidence-in-vaccine-after-superstars-death/EGTRQS6DZZG3RGGRMZZFQ5IXLM/ |work=[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Griffith |first1=Janelle |title='A boomerang effect': Hank Aaron's death is falsely linked to Covid vaccine |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/boomerang-effect-hank-aaron-s-death-falsely-linked-covid-vaccine-n1255735 |work=[[NBC News]] |date=January 27, 2021}}</ref>