L. Hansel “Hans” Hebert, a self-taught construction engineer, mechanic and surveyor who built the Presbyterian Church here in 1969 and helped rebuild it four years later after it burned to the ground, died March 31 in Mesa, Ariz. He was 93.

Friends and family members this week described him as energetic, outspoken and dedicated to the church. “He was very much a kinetic person. He had to be doing things,” said son Budd Hebert.  

Hebert was born Oct. 5, 1917, in Clawson, Mich., where he was raised. He worked in product development in a General Motors tool and dye shop in Detroit and built homes in Grand Rapids.

On June 4, 1939, he married Trudy Housler. Nine years later, seeking adventure and better hunting opportunities, Hebert fixed a moving van onto a flat bed truck and headed North with his wife and their three young sons.

“He built a motorhome, you might say,” complete with bunks, furniture and a rudimentary kitchen, said friend Dr. Stan Jones of Haines.

The family was bound for Ketchikan, but when the landing craft ferry that sailed to Juneau ran aground at Katzehin, they settled into Haines.

Hebert bought property near 1 Mile Mud Bay Road and during their first winter the family lived on a harvest of about 300 rabbits taken west of the Chilkat River. “We gutted and canned rabbits for so many days I never wanted to see another rabbit again,” Budd Hebert said. “But that was their plan – to live off the land. My mom put in a big garden.”

Jones hunted with Hebert. “He made a bet that he could cross the Chilkat River at 8 Mile and shoot and dress out 15 rabbits in 15 minutes. He said he won that bet. At that time there were a lot of rabbits running around here.”

Hebert worked around the state for the Alaska Road Commission as a surveyor, after picking up a book and learning the skill, his son said. “He was very skilled in picking up things. He had that kind of ability.”

He worked in maintenance at the U.S. Army tank farm on Lutak Road, and in the early 1960s launched a local construction company. He built homes on Allen Road and Oceanview Street, as well as the Starlight Apartments. Wife Trudy taught elementary school here.

He retired in 1967. Trudy said he told her at that time: “We have so much. Let’s do something for others now.”

They signed on with the Presbyterian Board of Missions. In 1968, Hebert built a hospital in Kodiak, and then over the next several years built churches in Haines, Yakutat and in the Arctic at Wainwright and Barrow.

The Mission Board sent them next to the Asian nation of Bangladesh, where he build a children’s hospital, and then on to the African Republic of Malawi, where he built clinics and doctors’ housing.

Hans and Trudy retired in Arizona during the winter months and drove to Alaska for the summer until 2008, when they finally gave up the keys to the camper van and flew instead. The Heberts often passed through Haines in their travels and kept in touch with friends here.

“They never forgot us or their friends in Haines,” said Doris Bell, a student of Trudy’s.

Survivors include his wife of 72 years, Trudy; three sons and their wives, Budd and Doris, Gary and Shirley, and Denny and Carol; as well as eight grandchildren and their spouses; and 12 great-grandchildren.

Donations be made to the Hansel Hebert Memorial Fund, University Presbyterian Church, 139 E. Alameda Drive, Tempe, Ariz. 85282-3502.