Featured News - Current News - Archived News - News Categories

Hibbard's proprietor passes

Wed, Nov 25th 2015 05:20 pm

James M. Hibbard, age 83, of Lewiston, died Monday, Nov. 23, 2015, in Mount St. Mary's Hospital in Lewiston, after a brief illness.

Hibbard was born July 1, 1932, in Niagara Falls, the son of the late Harold and Charlotte (Marshall) Hibbard. He was a lifelong resident of Lewiston. Hibbard attended Hobart College and graduated from the University of Buffalo with his bachelor's degree in business administration.

Hibbard was co-owner/operator of Hibbard's Custard and Hibbard's Liquor Store in Lewiston. He celebrated the iconic custard stand's 75th anniversary with family and friends in 2014.

"There was no other places that served this before," he said at the time. "We had customers come from Rochester - drive all over the place - just to get a frozen custard. People on the weekends would drive down from Buffalo - from all over the place - just to get a custard, because this was the only place that had it.

"There was a lot of places that had ice cream. Nobody had frozen custard."

To say Hibbard was an avid outdoorsman would be an understatement. He loved fishing, boating, hunting in Colorado and Canada, fishing at Buckhorn and Burleigh Falls in Ontario, four-wheeling and snowmobiling in Zoar Valley, as well as vacationing in St. Petersburg, Florida, in the winter months. He was a member of the NRA, Ducks Unlimited, the Niagara River Anglers Association, the Lewiston Kiwanis Club, the Loyal Order of Moose Lewiston Lodge No. 584 and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

He especially enjoyed his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Hibbard also will be remembered for his passion for fixing anything with duct tape.

Jim was predeceased by his wife and soul mate, Terrelle "Terry" (Frazier) Hibbard, the mother of his children, Jane (Collins) Pierce, and his brother, Donald Hibbard. He is survived by his children, Kristen (Robert) Trunzo and Marshall (Kara) Hibbard both of Youngstown, Jamie (Daniel) Hibbard-Gibson of Lewiston, James (Julianne) Hibbard of Ransomville, Elizabeth "Romey" Schroeder of Youngstown; his stepchildren, Michelle (Daniel) Baker of Lewiston, Deborah (Lou) Destino and Diane (Bradley) Tate, both of Zachary, Louisiana, and the late Kathleen (Frazier) Robertson; his grandchildren, Gina Trunzo-Orsi, Carrie and Nicholas Trunzo, Michael (Tesha), Hailey and Sydney Hibbard, Jordan and Taylor Gibson, Giovanna Hibbard, Ryan and Raedin Schroeder, Quinn and Quaid Baker, Rechelle Frerichs and Kyle Robinson, Sonny and Jonathan Hatfield, and Jennifer Tate. He was "Papa Custard" to his great-grandchildren, Estrella Orsi, Michael and Josephina Hibbard, Terrelle and Wyatt Frerichs.

Friends may call at Hardison Funeral Home, North Fourth and Ridge streets, Lewiston, from 2-8 p.m. Monday, Nov. 30. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 1, in the funeral home, with his dear friend, Stephen Bateman, officiating. Entombment will follow in All Saints Mausoleum, Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Lewiston.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the intensive care unit at Mount St. Mary's Hospital, 5300 Military Road, Lewiston, NY 14092.

Hometown News

View All News