PORTLAND – Clement Hiebert, M.D., 82, former chief of surgery at the Maine Medical Center, died July 3, following a long struggle with Parkinson’s disease.

Born June 7, 1926, he grew up in Lewiston where his father, Joelle C. Hiebert, was superintendent of the Central Maine General Hospital. He graduated magna-cum-laude from Bowdoin College in 1947, and then went on to join the Harvard Medical School class of 1951, later completing his internship and residency at Massachusetts General Hospital. During his residency, he spent a summer under Dr. John Olds at the Notre Dame Bay Memorial Hospital in Twillingate, Newfoundland. In a town of scarce resources and less than ideal hospital conditions, the experience made a lasting impression on the young doctor. Years later, as a Rockefeller scholar-in-residence at Bellagio, Italy, he would begin writing the book “Seldom Come By: A Surgeon’s Stories” (Blue Publications, 2003), a reflection on how these early experiences would inform his life and career as a surgeon.

In 1958, Dr. Hiebert continued his training by spending the year at the Strangeways Laboratory in Cambridge, England, as a Harvard research fellow; and another under the tutelage of Ronald Belsey, M.D., M.S., and F.R.C.S. in Bristol, England, training in thoracic surgery.

Returning in 1960 to his home state and the Maine Medical Center in Portland, Dr. Hiebert would spend the next 40 years there as a cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon. He served as staff president of the hospital in 1984, later as chief of surgery (1986-1989) and was chairman emeritus, department of surgery, until his death.

Two tours on the S.S. Hope hospital ship – to Guinea, West Africa and later to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) – marked what would become a lifetime commitment to altruism and service that defined this compassionate man. Personal fulfillment was its own reward but his professional dedication did not go unnoticed. Among the many awards and recognitions honoring him, those which gave him particular pride included the Santos Dumont Medal from Brazil (1986), Surgeon Teacher of the Year at Maine Medical Center (1983), the Gold Heart Award from the American Heart Association (2005), and the annual Clement A. Hiebert Student Teaching and Resident Teaching Awards established in 2002 by the University of Vermont.

In 1969, Dr. Hiebert founded the innovative and now widely adopted “patient care survey committee,” a model that he and Bettsanne Holmes developed for addressing and improving patient rights in hospitals. Other hallmarks of his career include the early promotion of chest physiotherapy for lung rehabilitation, now a universal standard of care.

In 1978, as President of the Cumberland County Medial Society, he conceived a groundbreaking program whereby 83 area surgeons would provide free second opinions to citizens advised to have surgery; Joseph Califano, then U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, called this program “extraordinary … an idea which could work nationally.”

In his long career, Dr. Hiebert was a highly regarded speaker and writer. In addition to an autobiographical book of anecdotes, scores of surgical publications and several chapters in thoracic surgery textbooks, he served as co-editor of the two-volume “Pearson Thoracic and Esophageal Surgery,” the definitive text on the subjects. Less well-known, but for him equally rewarding, were the several medical movies he produced. A personal favorite featured a circus sword-swallower and fire thrower in the role of an endoscopy patient is now in the archives of a number of thoracic teaching centers.

His many humanitarian efforts included: house calls to patients in rural Maine; terms of service on the boards of Opportunity Farm, a facility for boys run by his former boy scout leader, Ray Hearn; the Portland Symphony Orchestra; and Goodwill Industries. He represented the American Board of Surgery in the inaugural Board of Surgery examinations in Baghdad, Iraq (1986), and was permanent vice president of the Harvard medical school class of 1951. Until the progression of his disease made it impossible, his dedication to service never wavered. The happiest days of the week during his retirement years were the Tuesdays he spent teaching handicapped skiers at Sunday River in Bethel, and the Thursdays he spent lecturing to medical students at the Maine Medical Center.

Clement Hiebert was a true Renaissance man. His many friends will remember him fondly not just as an accomplished surgeon but also as an ardent skier, traveler, gardener, musician, photographer and lover of his working mill and former home on Lake Suzanne in Windham. However, being a surgeon and caring for patients was his life’s purpose.

He is survived by his wife, May Cameron Hiebert of Yarmouth; sisters, Ruth Hiebert Davis of Brooksville, and Dorothy Hiebert Odell of Belfast; a brother, Gordon Hiebert of Alexandria, Va., (a brother Dr. Joelle Hiebert of Norway died in 1975); his children, from his former marriage to Maryanne Tremaine Hiebert of Keene, N.H., Timothy Hiebert of Providence, R.I., Sarah Hiebert Flowers of Oakland, Calif., Kristi Hiebert Morse of Yarmouth, Amy Hiebert Murphy of Warren, R.I., and Dr. John Hiebert of Wayland, Mass.; and seven grandchildren.

Grateful thanks from the family are extended to all the staff at Hawthorne House, Freeport for the excellent care and love given to Clem during his stay with them. They were outstanding.