Lifelong resident of Ann Arbor, (Henry) Mark Hildebrandt died on February 12, 2024 at the Brecon Village Memory Care Center in Saline. He was 97 years old. Mark was born to Dora Ware and Theophil Hildebrandt on October 23, 1926; and was a brother to Theodore (Teddy), Paul, and younger sister, Lisbeth. He attended Angell Elementary School, Tappan Junior High School, and the Cranbrook School. Mark started pre-medicine at the University of Michigan in 1942. He enlisted in the Army Specialized Training Reserve in 1944 to study engineering before returning to U of M for medical school in 1947. He spent a summer playing cello at the U of M School of Music, where he met Jennie Parker, who would become his first wife (married in 1950), and Emily Karch, who would become his fourth wife. He married Emily one week before his 80th birthday and retirement from his practice of 50 years. Emily died of Alzheimer’s disease in 2017.
Dr. Hildebrandt was a trusted and beloved pediatrician, known for his personal style of treating children and their families. Patients remember his dedication to breastfeeding, co-sleeping, and holding babies close to encourage bonding. He spent several years working in the Department of Pediatrics at U of M, teaching medical students and creating the Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect team, one of the first coordinated approaches to preventing child abuse and neglect in the country.
Mark was an avid rail fan and excellent photographer, producing thousands of historically relevant images. He was founder and an active member of the Ann Arbor Train and Trolley Watchers, and in 2009, he co-wrote Electric Trolleys of Washtenaw County with M.A. Churchill as part of “The Images of Rail’’ series. Another of Mark’s interests was the botanical world, populating the extensive forest habitat on Cambridge Rd. with native wildflowers, including hundreds of white trilliums that bloom each spring.
Mark was an amateur cellist who enjoyed playing string quartets in his living room with friends into his 90s. He also sang in the church choir for many years, starting at age seven in the boys’ choir at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church. Mark continued to attend St. Andrew’s for his entire life. He took particular interest in the stained-glass windows at St. Andrew’s, collaborating with the St. Andrew’s Historical Society to create a book detailing the history of each window entitled The Windows of St. Andrew’s. Perhaps his favorite project was compiling and transcribing the love letters written back and forth between his parents during their courtship between 1917–1921.
Mark is survived by his six children: Marian, Carl, Janet, Jonathan, Lisabeth, and Ursula; 13 grandchildren: Molly, Paul, Alice, Leo, Tobias, Luka, Keegan, Jennie, Julia, Sophia, Elena, Jesse, and Katherine, and two great-grandchildren, Charlie and Eleanor.