Malcolm Jackman Hibbard

Malcolm Jackman Hibbard (M.J.), 88, of Santa Rosa, California passed away peacefully at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital on June 30, 2024.

He was born at home in Rockport, Massachusetts on February 20, 1936 to Winifred Jackman Hibbard and Aldro Thompson Hibbard. He had one sister Elaine.

M.J. was raised in the picturesque New England seaside artist's colony of Rockport, Massachusetts on the Cape Ann shore. He spent winters at a rustic home in East Jamaica, Vermont. His father Aldro T. Hibbard (1886-1972) was a famous oil painter and baseball player most notable for his New England snowscapes and was founder of the Rockport Art Association. His mother Winifred was also a fine watercolor painter. M.J. spent his early education in a Rockport one-room schoolhouse and loved bird-watching with John Kieran and playing baseball and pitching a no-hitter with his father who was a founding member of the iconic Rockport baseball team.

He then attended Vermont Academy in 1950 in Saxton's River, Vermont and enjoyed winter sports. As an athlete in Brattleboro, Vermont, he downhill skied and ski-jumped competitively. He was awarded the Barrett Medal of Honor for overall achievement and for being the captain of the ski team.

His interest in the outdoors continued as he found geology and the study of granitic rocks in particular. He attended Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, graduating in 1958. He went on to pursue a Masters of Science in 1960 and a Ph.D. in 1962 at the University of Washington. His dissertation was titled "Geology and petrology of crystalline rocks of the Toats Coulee Creek region. Okanogan County, Washington." He moved to the state of Nevada to become a tenured professor at the University of Nevada Reno, Department of Geological Sciences while returning to Dartmouth to teach in 1968 and in 1970-1971, went on sabbatical leave to the "Institute Geologique at Mineralogique, University de Clermont-Ferrand, France. He wrote two important mineralogy books during his career, (Petrography to Petrogenesis, 1995 and Mineralogy, A Geologist's Point of View, 2002) and published a multitude of scientific papers during his tenure. He enjoyed many summers in Ruth, Nevada leading the summer geology field camp and visiting Garnet Hill with his students. He became a professor emeritus at University of Nevada Reno when he retired in 1999.

In addition to his academic talents he restored two Victorian mansions from the gold rush of 1875 in Virginia City, Nevada. "The Hampton Mansion" is where he lived with his wife Terrie until 2015.

M.J. and Terrie moved to Santa Rosa, California to enjoy a new home adventure called "The Toy House" near their eldest daughter Thea, her husband Gregg and grandsons Ben and Nick. Some of his best memories were of building onto his home, going to Detroit Tigers baseball games, family BBQ pool parties and listening to his grandson Ben play in the orchestra at the symphony and his grandson Nick in the band.

He is survived by his wife Terrie Nault-Hibbard of 41 years, married in 1983, and his daughters Thea, Monique, Anita, Hillary, nine grandchildren, six nieces, one nephew and seven great nieces. His love and support of his family, dry wit, astounding talents and natural ingenuity made him the leader in everything he did. His contributions in writing, photography, canoeing and camping, constructing larger-than-life summer waterparks and in winter, hand-crafting ice rinks for his children and grandchildren, all the while being an exceptional friend and neighbor to all who knew him including his beloved cats Rosemary Ruth and Daisy Jane, will be honored and profoundly-missed. He was indeed the embodiment of the phrase "Seize the day."

Malcolm will be laid to rest in the Silver Terrace Cemetery, Exempt Firemen Cemetery in Virginia City, Nevada where the town will welcome him back where he devoted a large part of his life as a volunteer fireman and emergency medical technician serving his community with dedication and love.