Chemistry instructor Charles Hiebert’s love of chemistry was apparent to students, faculty and his family alike.

“He’d try to teach us as much as he could in an hour’s time,” chemistry major Thomas Le, 17, said, “and we’d all just sit there and soak it in.”

Hiebert died unexpectedly of heart disease on the evening of Feb. 2 at the age of 55. An informal memorial will be held at the Fireside Room in the Hinson Campus Center on Friday, Feb. 24 from 12:30 – 2 p.m.

Coordinator of the chemistry department David Gray described Hiebert as a “very upbeat, jovial type person” who “could talk about chemistry as long as you wanted him to talk.”

His enthusiasm led him to teach chemistry not only to his students, but his wife as well.

“We would go for walks at night and he would talk about stuff and I would have no clue,” Kathy Hiebert said. “And I would tell him ‘You know Charlie, I really don’t understand,’ and on our walks he would try to explain orbitals and stuff I still don’t understand.”

Kathy appreciated that despite his lengthy time in the field, he still had passion for it.

“There’s a lot of people when they get his age they get kind of burnt out about what they’re doing,” she said, “and he was still excited about it.”

Hiebert was also known for his informal style, in both dress and relationships.

“He was much more of a jeans and polo shirt guy than a suit and tie guy,” Kathy said. 

Gray said Hiebert didn’t believe in a sharp student-teacher hierarchy and thought “there doesn’t have to be a Grand Canyon divide between the two.” Students echoed this sentiment.

 “The relationship was very casual,” Zhiling Zhao, a bio chem major, said. “There was no gap. You can be friends with him, play around.” 

“He was really friendly,” 18-year-old biology student Erfan Faridmoayen said. “He approached all of us, which not every instructor does.”

Before coming to De Anza in 2005, Hiebert worked at SRI International, a research institute, for 15 years. Students said they benefitted from his work experience.

“He knew a lot because he was in the industry,” Faridmoayen said, “so basically we had a practical example for everything we studied.”

“He really wanted us to know how (chemistry) could be applied to the real world,” said Le, “and I think that’s something special about him.”

Besides his real world experience, Hiebert brought a good dose of humor, at times edgy, to his classes. Topic for his jokes ranged from the chemistry of illicit drugs to comparing protons to men and electrons to women.

“Men were in the center, full of themselves,” Faridmoayen recalled Hiebert saying. “They’re really dense (and) lazy, not doing work. Electrons are the ones going around.”

Le also recalled the analogy: “Electrons can make orbitals and nice shapes. Protons are just lumpy.”

Hiebert was born in 1956 in Iowa. He attended Coe College in Cedar Rapids before doing graduate work at the University of Iowa and post-doctorate work at Northwestern.

Kathy and Charles’ relationship took a circuitous route. They met in 1974, their freshman year at Coe College, when Charles took her to a department store to buy a winter coat.

“I’m from Hawaii originally,” Kathy said. “I was shell shocked by the weather.”

After college, the two went their separate ways before reconnecting 12 years ago.

“We were somewhat, very occasionally in touch with each other during the intervening years,” Kathy said. “But he always thought about me and I always thought about him, so I guess when the timing was right, that was when we got together.”

This March would have marked 11 years of marriage.

Hiebert was active in his daughter Amanda’s life, taking an interest in soccer as a result of her playing and coaching her basketball team, a sport he played throughout his time at school.

Fellow chemistry instructor Homer Tong worked at SRI before Hiebert arrived. He said that common background gave him a personal connection with Hiebert. He praised his straightforwardness and also commented on how students benefited from his work experience.

“Looking back, I wish we had him earlier … it’s a great transfer of real practical experience to the students,” Tong said.

“We lost a great instructor.”

Hiebert is survived by his wife Kathy, his daughter Amanda, 10, and brother Terry, 57.