Albert Hybl
Former University of Maryland biophysics associate professor enjoyed classical music, dancing and hunting for mushrooms
Albert Hybl, a retired associate professor of biophysics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, died of end-stage dementia Dec. 12 at College Manor in Lutherville. He was 90 and lived in Original Northwood neighborhood of Baltimore.
Born in Iowa City, Iowa, he was raised in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, by his mother, Marie Hybl, and grandmother, Anna Rose Hybl, who immigrated from Czechoslovakia in 1920 and worked at ameatpacking plant.
While a McKinley High School student he wrestled, and later went on to earn a degree in math and chemistry at Coe College.
Immediately after his 1954 graduation, Mr. Hybl was drafted into the U.S. Army and assigned to bases in Germany and France.
After he left the military, he headed to the California Institute of Technology and earned his doctorate in chemistry and mathematics. He specialized in crystallography, the science of determining the arrangement of atoms in crystalline solids.
Mr. Hybl did postdoctoral work at Iowa State University.
He met his future wife, Lois Ann Gleason, in the Cedar Rapids public library.
“He was home in summer and checking out German language opera records and I was working summers at the library,” she said. “I had to ask his name to record the loan. He asked me to see the movie, ‘South Pacific.’ ”
In 1964 Mr. Hybl moved to Baltimore on The Alameda. He joined the faculty of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, where he taught and conducted research. He also interviewed medical school applicants and was an early practitioner of computer research.
Toward the end of his career, he worked in the information technology division of the dean’s office.
Mr. Hybl enjoyed classical music in addition to many other hobbies. He was a regular listener of Baltimore’s classical music station, WBJC.
He enjoyed hunting for mushrooms in Herring Run and Patapsco State parks. He played chess and read detective mysteries and science fiction. He was also a Harry Potter, Star Wars and Star Trek fan. He loved Czech music and both waltz
and polka dancing in addition to being a regular at the Polish Home Club. He also belonged to the Emerald Isle Club and enjoyed Irish social dancing.
Mr. Hybl had relatives in the Czech Republic and joined the Czech and Slovak Heritage Association where he studied the Czech language. He assisted the language school and annual festivals.
He also performed with the Sokol Folk Dance Ensemble.
With his wife, Lois, he traveled to the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Ireland for dance workshops and tours. On one trip, he met his mother’s cousins in Ceska Trebova.
“Our Czech language skills were not perfect and we had a translator on that trip,” said his wife.
Survivors include his wife of 60 years, Lois Ann Gleason, a research assistant at the Johns Hopkins Center for Social Organization of Schools and a curriculum developer for the Success for All Foundation; a son, Anton A. Hybl of Germantown; a daughter, Tanya M. Sandrock of Salt Lake City, Utah; and five grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. March 11 at the Towson Unitarian Universalist Church, 1710 Dulaney Valley Road.