Obituary www.ToledoBlade.com
Published Saturday, July 7, 2007

BOWLING GREEN, OHIO.  - H. Kenneth Hibbeln, 68, an associate professor emeritus of political science at Bowling Green State University whose specialty was public policy and public administration, died June 30 in the Ohio Veterans Home, Sandusky, from complications of Parkinson's disease.

He was in the veterans home about three months, his wife, Josephine, said.

Already dealing with illness, Mr. Hibbeln retired from BGSU in 1998, his wife said.

He was a member of the political science faculty for 20 years, and he taught courses in public policy and government budgeting during his tenure, said D.S. Chauhan, a political science professor and a former director of the department's public administration program.

"I always sought his counsel as a colleague," Mr. Chauhan said. "He was a nice guy."

Mr. Hibbeln was a co-author of the textbook, Administrative Discretion and Public Policy Implementation.

His work required extensive research and writing, plus attendance at conferences and other events.

But he liked the classroom best.

"He enjoyed the students very much," his wife said.

"He enjoyed interacting with them, and they enjoyed interacting with him. Many of them remained friends."

His son Paul said, "He was an accomplished lecturer and a good public speaker."

Born in Orofino, Idaho, Mr. Hibbeln grew up and graduated from high school in Lewiston, Idaho.

He received a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Idaho.

He was a navigator in the Navy for five years, often aboard
C-130 cargo planes transporting supplies from the United States to Saigon in South Vietnam.

Afterward, he worked for United Airlines for more than three years, but the firm developed a navigational system aboard planes, which put human navigators out of work, his wife said.

"He decided he was going to get a PhD," his wife said.

He also decided to change his field of study, although he didn't say much about why.

"He was always interested in the underdog, so that may have had something to do with it," his wife said.

He attended the University of Utah and, later, the University of California at Santa Barbara, from which he received his master's and doctoral degrees.

Mr. Hibbeln liked to golf and played on BGSU's course most of the time.

He was a runner and took part in 10-kilometer events. He coached his sons' sports activities, and he and his wife played bridge.

He liked to read academic journals and newsmagazines.

"Most people saw him as sort of laid back, kind of cool," his wife said.

"He didn't show a lot of emotion, didn't get hot under the collar very easily, and [was] friendly."

Son Paul said, "He was generally quiet, but he had a very dry wit. He enjoyed a joke very much. He was not garrulous in any way."

Surviving are his wife, Josephine, whom he married April 27, 1970; sons, Paul and Christopher Hibbeln, and brothers, Ron, Gary, and Wayne Hibbeln.

There will be no visitation.

Memorial services will be at 11 a.m. July 14 at St. Aloysius Church, Bowling Green. Arrangements are by the Deck-Hanneman Funeral Home, Bowling Green.

The family suggests tributes to the Ohio Veterans Home or Stein Hospice Service, both of Sandusky.
 

Additional information forwarded by Russ Mason.................