Harold Paul Hilbert

Harold Paul Hilbert (1935-2010) Harold was the only son of Harold and Annette Hilbert, the youngest of three children. He is survived by his wife, Becky, of almost 30 years; his children: Sean (Linda) Hilbert, Vernon (Kristi) Elliott, Dan (Casey) Elliott, and Carina Hilbert; ten grandchildren; his sister Gina (Ken) Coleman and twin sister Pauline (Will) Williams; and many, many cousins. A Pearl Harbor survivor, Harold was born in Long Beach, CA before first moving to Honolulu, HI and then to Lewiston, ID; the Bay Area in California; the Lansing area; and finally settling in Mason for the last 33 years. He finished a machinist apprenticeship at Mare Island Shipyard at 19, was drafted into the Army during the Cold War, worked in our nation's nuclear defense industry, and earned his mechanical engineering degree from Michigan State in 1966. During his student years at Michigan State, Henry Blosser hired him to work at the then-new cyclotron laboratory, and Harold worked his way up from student worker to Senior Project Engineer in charge of building and maintaining the cyclotrons and research equipment. Harold retired in 2000, moving on to work for his son, Sean, at Cobra Motorcycles, working long, fun-filled weeks selling the only American-made dirtbike. He will be missed by his family and many friends, as well as the many people he helped through the years hiding his big heart behind his gruff demeanor. A memorial service was held at Holt United Methodist Church on Thursday at 3p.m. with a celebration of his life to follow at 5pm at the home. Dress is casual in keeping with Harold's wishes. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the MSU College of Engineering's scholarship fund in Harold's name. He always believed in the worth of an engineering degree and a good education. He was a Spartan to the end.