Grim Reapers MC is a one percenter motorcycle club founded in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in 1967. The motorcycle club was patched over by the Hells Angels MC in 1997.
There is another club who use the same name of “Grim Reapers Motorcycle Club” who were founded in Louisville, Kentucky, USA in 1965. The two clubs are not related, but you can find our article on the other club at Grim Reapers MC (USA).
Grim Reapers MC History
The Grim Reapers Motorcycle Club were founded in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in 1967 by a group who loved to ride their Harley Davidson motorcycles. This was to be the first one percenter motorcycle club in Calgary, later on the Rebels MC would appear in 1969 and the Kings Crew MC.
Throughout the 1980’s and 1980’s the club continued to be a powerful force in the Calgary area, being one of the 4 main motorcycle clubs. The other large clubs in the area at the time were the Rebels MC, Warlords MC and Kings Crew MC.
A violent battle with the Kings Crew MC continued throughout the 1980’s resulting in multiple beatings and murders. More information on these activities can be found further below in the “Crime / In The Media” section.
In 1997 Grim Reapers Motorcycle Club were patched over by the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, where they took in a total of 23 members of the Grim Reapers. The patching over ceremony occurred in the city of Red Deer, which is the third most populated city in Alberta, after Calgary and Edmonton. The two new Hells Angels MC chapters would be Hells Angels MC Edmonton and Hells Angels MC Calgary, the 13th and 14th chapters for the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club in Canada.
This patching over came at a time when tensions were very high between one percenter motorcycle clubs in Canada. The two main contenders were Hells Angels MC waring against Rock Machine MC, in a historical time which would be best known as the Quebec Biker War which ran from 1994 until 2002.
Grim Reapers MC Patch / Motto
The Grim Reapers Motorcycle Club patch consists of a depiction of Death, also known as the Grim Reaper, The Destroyer, The Hooded One, The Angel of Death, & The “God” of Death, etc. is a common element in human cultures and history. The popular depiction of Death as a skeletal figure carrying a large scythe and clothed in a black cloak with a hood first arose in 15th century England, while the title “the Grim Reaper” is first attested in 1847.
Grim Reapers MC Chapters
The Grim Reapers Motorcycle Club had a strong presence in the Alberta, Canada area.
Known former Grim Reapers Motorcycle Club chapters were located as follows:
- Grim Reapers Calgary
- Grim Reapers Edmonton
- Grim Reapers Red Deer
Famous Grim Reapers MC Members
While the motorcycle club did not have any members who could be considered as “famous”, one member of note from a motorcycle club history perspective was Gerry Weldon. Gerry Weldon joined the Grim Reapers in 1973 and would later go on to become the Hells Angels MC Edmonton President.
Grim Reapers MC Crime / In The Media
1970 – 11 members and 2 associates were sentenced to life in prison for the murder of the Outcasts MC President Ronald Hartley. After the appeals process some of the members were released, while some others had sentences reduced. Two members were convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
1980 – November, 1980. Members of the Grim Reapers showed up at the clubhouse of the Ghost Riders MC Lethbridge chapter with weapon and forced the club to hand over their colors.
1983 – February, 1983. Five sets of colors of the Kings Crew MC are stolen at gunpoint by members of the Grim Reapers Motorcycle Club. The colors were burned and sent to the offices of the Calgary Sun Newspaper.
1983 – March, 1983. Shots are fired in the Grim Reapers Calgary clubhouse.
1983 – 16 May, 1983. Grim Reapers Motorcycle Club member Dennis Bullen’s truck is bombed.
1983 – 30 July, 1983. Southside Harley and Speed Motorcycle shop in Edmonton, Alberta, which is owned by the Grim Reapers is bombed.
1984 – 13 August, 1984. Grim Reapers member David Worshek is badly beaten by members of the Kings Crew MC.
1987 – 26 July, 1987. Grim Reapers members Michael Doll, Kerry Eastman and Derek Smith beat Kings Crew MC members Richard Doyes and take his colors.
1987 – 1 October, 1987. Grim Reapers MC members suspected of the kidnapping and murder of Kings Crew MC member Louis Aaron Blatt.
1997 – At the height of the Quebec Biker War the Canadian government introduced Bill C-95, which was an amendment to the criminal code giving law enforcement similar powers to those provided to law enforcement agencies in the USA under the RICO act. The RICO Act (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations Act) focuses specifically on racketeering, and it allows the leaders of a syndicate to be tried for the crimes which they ordered others to do or assisted them in doing, closing a perceived loophole that allowed a person who instructed someone else to, for example, murder, to be exempt from the trial because he did not actually commit the crime personally.
2005 – Multiple former members of the Grim Reapers Motorcycle Club, who were now members of the Hells Angels MC Western Canadian chapters after the club was patched over by the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, won cases on appeal in relation to a 1997 traffic stop which was performed under the powers provided in Bill C-95.
Grim Reapers MC Enemies and Allies
- Hells Angels MC were allies who patched over the Grim Reapers Motorcycle Club in 1997.
- Rebels MC (Canada) were enemies.
- Kings Crew MC were enemies.
Read More:
- List of One Percenters Motorcycle Clubs
- Hells Angels MC
- Rock Machine MC
- Rebels MC (Canada)
- Grim Reapers MC (USA)
- Outlaw Motorcycle Club Books
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