Former Pontiac police chief Hildebrand dies at age 92
James Hildebrand, who served as Pontiac’s police chief from 1981 to 1986, died Aug. 28. He was 92.
He had been married to his wife, Kathryne, since 1954. He was the father of four children: Joe, Jayne (Iliades), Joan (Norman) and the late James “Jimmy.”
He was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and worked 28 years for the New York City Department of Investigation. Joe Hildebrand said that in 1980 his father applied for the Pontiac chief position, which he came across through a trade publication.
At that time the family lived in Staten Island, N.Y.
“They called the house in New York,” Joe said. “I happened to be home and answered the phone. It was attorneys for the city of Pontiac and they said they wanted to interview him.”
But his father was on a cruise in the Mediterranean at that time. He eventually touched base with representatives in Pontiac and was hired that same year, eventually starting his new role in January 1981.
Joe said his father was a very generous man and always gave his time. He was a Pontiac Kiwanis Club member; he served on the North Oakland Girl Scout Board of Directors; and he was active with the committee for the pancake breakfast in downtown Pontiac.
Joe recalled a quote from his father in The Oakland Press, when he blamed then-Vice President George H.W. Bush for traffic jams caused by his motorcade traveling to and from the 1982 Super Bowl at the Pontiac Silverdome.
His father enjoyed being a snowbird, often going south every October for a couple months and returning after Christmas. He and a couple of his police friends had purchased condos at the same complex at Pounce Landing, in St. Augustine. He also embarked on the annual cruise in the Mediterranean.
When the family moved from New York to Pontiac, they purchased a home on Sylvan Lake. The family still owns that home.
Joe said the last twothree years were really rough.
“He enjoyed his view of Sylvan Lake,” Joe said. “He loved his family, he loved the community. He enjoyed life, he had a wonderful life. I like to think when he retired from New York and moved his family here, he was looking for a better life for his family.”
In addition to his wife and children, he leaves two sisters, Anne Molkentin and Flory Cuff, and five grandchildren. A sister, Jane Smith, preceded him in death.
Visitation is Thursday at Simpson-Modetz Riverside Chapel, 5630 Pontiac Lake Road in Waterford Township. The funeral is Friday at St. Benedict Catholic Church, 80 South Lynn Street in Waterford Township.