24 June 1920–10 November 2013
Revelee Lee Hibdon, born Cylta Sonora Revelee Lee on 24 June 1920, died 10 November 2013 in Salt Lake City. Revelee was the born at Lark, Oklahoma, the youngest of nine children born to Marion Andrew Lee and Delores Ann Crowson Lee. Revelee was orphaned by the loss of her father before age two, and of her mother before age thirteen. She married William Cecil Hibdon on Halloween day, 1936.
Revelee was preceded in death by her husband and all of her siblings. She is survived by children Lois Marie Hibdon Seibert of Bakersfield, California, by David Hibdon of Salt Lake City, and by Delores Mae Hibdon of Shamrock, Texas. Grandchildren are Mitchell (wife Leslie) Seibert of Vernonia, Oregon; Deborah (husband John) Deegan of Banks, Oregon; Diana Seibert of Bakersfield, Karen Hibdon (husband Bob Gump) of Bethesda, Maryland; Martin Hibdon (wife Heather McNabb) of San Francisco; Susan Hibdon (husband Dustin Joyce) of New York City; and Ellen Hibdon of Salt Lake City. Survivors also include seven great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.
Revelee worked sometimes as a waitress in Oklahoma City and Bakersfield while her children grew up, then moved full time into retail as they left home. During the 1960s, she managed a Goodwill store in Berkeley and sold guns and cameras at the Naval Exchange on Treasure Island and at Vincent’s Sporting Goods in Bakersfield. In later years she lived and worked near friends or family in New Mexico, Florida, Texas, and Oklahoma. She retired in the early 1990s and lived mostly in Oregon thereafter, enjoying time with grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Revelee began a long fight with progressive dementia about year 2000. She at last succumbed to the condition, but retained a feisty personality to the last. She expressed pride and love for her family in her last days, and love for her caregivers on her last day of consciousness, 8 November 2013.
This obituary was published in The Bakersfield Californian on 4 December 2013. It has been edited for stylistic consistency.
This appeared on page 27 of Issue 13 | January 2014.
Dialann 
I worked side by side with Revelee when she was at Treasure Island. I helped in the sporting goods department helping to sell rifles, shotguns, fishing rods, etc. It was my first job in retail while I was attending college. She showed me how to count money back to the customers. She was full of life and had such a colorful personality.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I worked side by side with Revelee at the Navy Exchange on Treasure Island in the late early 70’s (70, 71,72 maybe 1969) – selling shotguns, rifles, fishing rods, etc. It was my first job in retail while I was attending college. She showed me how to count change back to customers (before machines began doing calculations). She was so lively and had such a colorful personality. The world is a bit duller without her. Bye, Revelee.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for the comments. Mother learned a lot about cameras when she started in 1962, but really liked selling the guns and other sporting goods. (Maybe she just liked military men. She called them her kids.) She had stories to tell about the Naval exchange, about kids going off to Nam, sometimes about kids coming back not in one piece, or with stories about friends who could not come back. She, and her customers and fellow workers took a lot of photos, too. But most are unlabled.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Our staff consisted of a lot of 20-year olds, and your mother was a like mother hen to us – teaching us how to conduct ourselves and making sure we provided a good image for our managers as well as our customers. We didn’t take pictures, but we came away with many pleasant memories of our co-workers (friends). It was a mixture of generations, ethnic groups, etc., all brought together during a time of change. I remember one young Vietnam vet who came in and had been severely wounded especially in the face – he startled my friend when he went to pay for an item. She looked up and he saw this look on her face – he quickly apologized and said “I’m sorry, but I had to come in to buy this lock”. She felt so bad for making him feel he had to apologize for the way he looked. Thank you for this opportunity to relive a very memorable part of my life and the people who participated in that journey.
LikeLiked by 1 person