Wayne Martin Hiebert, Sr., 81, of Prospect, TN died March 13, 2012 at Vanderbilt Hospital, Nashville, TN. He was born Oct. 4, 1930 in Berrian Springs, MI, to parents Martin Hiebert and Auda Boorem Hiebert, later of Brooksville, FL.
He is survived by his wife, Ligia Saravia Hiebert, his ex-wife, Bette Lashley Johnson, his children, Martha Bush of Palmer, AK, Wayne Martin Hiebert, Jr. & daughter-in-law Aracely Turcios Hiebert of Fayettville, TN, Kaysey Hasslock of Covington, LA, Oran Hiebert of Athens, AL, Linda Hiebert Ashby of Toney, AL, his grandchildren Carmen Hiebert Rathbun, Cynthia A. Hiebert, Cassidy L. McLoughlin, William M. Hiebert, Eli O. Hiebert, Tristan Ashby, Laurel C. Ashby and three great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his parents, his sister Minon Hiebert Hamm of Maryville, TN, and his granddaughter Rhaen Lynn Hiebert.
In 1964 Mr. Hiebert moved his family to Colombia, South America where he and then wife Bette L. Johnson provided medical care to indigenous people in primitive field conditions, often outfitted only with a reference book, extra medical supplies shared by U.S. doctor friends and determination to try and help where no other medical help was available. He also taught modernized agricultural methods, a subject he continued to study upon his return to the U.S. with his wife Ligia S. Hiebert in 1978 to farm in the southern central area of Tennessee. A lifelong organic gardener interested in exotic and heirloom plant varieties he was a passionate early advocate for promoting better health and sustainable ecology with a fresh food diet.
He never hesitated in exploring environmental as well as intellectual new ground, and delighted in bringing his discoveries to life, independently exploring recent developments in farming or housing construction just as eagerly as those in philosophy, literature or physics.
Mr. Hiebert was a devoted family man whose wry humor and unwavering encouragement will be missed by his family and many friends, from North to South America.
The family requests that in lieu of flowers those interested may make a donation to OxFam America for their work on hunger, particularly that in South America.
Please visit
www.oxfamamerica.org