When Åke Ivan Herbert Hultgren was born about 17 April 1925, in Tjärstad, Östergötland, Sweden, his father, Herman Ninian Hultgren, was 32 and his mother, Tyra Frideborg Danielsson, was 27. He married Greta Gunnel Marianne Andersson on 30 November 1957, in Kristdala, Kalmar, Sweden. He died about 27 January 2009, at the age of 83.