Dr. John Richard Hebel

On June 1, 2023, Dr. John Richard Hebel, 87, passed away peacefully, at Misericordia Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, in York, PA, after a long battle with Guillain-Barre disease.

Rich graduated Sparrows Point High School in 1953, he received a BS in Chemical Engineering from Virginia Tech in 1962, and a PhD in Mathematical Statistics from Virginia Tech in 1966. Rich completed an NIH Biostatistics Internship at University of Maryland School of Medicine in 1966, and was an Honorary Research Fellow at the Health Services Research Centre of the University of Birmingham in England in 1974.

Rich began his career in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Maryland School of Medicine as Assistant Professor in 1966.  He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1971 and to Professor in 1984. He participated in research concerning prenatal care for low- income women, blood pressure variability, smoking cessation during pregnancy, hospital mortality, hypertension screening, lead exposure, hip fracture recovery, dementia in nursing homes, alcohol abuse intervention, urinary tract infection, and health effects of exposure of pfiesteria.  Rich was also the author or co-author of over 200 journal articles. He won the School of Medicine Student Council Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence in 1979 and again in 1990.  Rich also co-authored a highly successful textbook on epidemiology and biostatistics, now in its 7th edition, which has been translated into five foreign languages. He served on the Internal Review Board for NIH Intramural Addictions Research on the Hopkins Bayview Campus from 1993-2014.

Survived by his wife, Marlene Rutter Hebel of 57 years and his 3 sons Glen Colin Hebel and his wife Lisa Marie Hebel, Carey Lance Hebel, and John Andrew Hebel and his wife Rachel Shelton Hebel and his 6 grandchildren Hannah Blythe Hebel, Lillian Mae Hebel, Haley Reese Hebel, Colin Payne Hebel, Charles Reide Hebel, and Alice Dulaney Hebel.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Pennsylvania Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association.

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