12/23/2025
Joe T. Hibler, a cherished member of the Kingsville community and beloved family man, passed from this life on December 17, 2025, at the age of 91. Born on May 9, 1934, Bluffton, Texas, Joe's journey through life was marked by his unwavering faith, love for the outdoors, and his commitment to his family and friends.
Born in the midst of the great depression Joe Temple Hibler endured poverty throughout his childhood and adolescence. To help support his family he started his first part-time job delivering newspapers at just five years old. From then on, he always had a job. He wound motors in grade school, roughnecked in high school, worked at the gas plants after graduation and in his off hours pursued various entrepreneurial enterprises. He first experienced hunting when he harvested a rabbit with a BB gun and then fell in love with hunting at 12 years old when, against all odds, he rattled up a buck and secured sustenance for his family. Only the Lord knew the path Joe would be set on after these two monumental moments in his life. It was in the 1950’s when he found his true passion after he started Hibler Horn Covers. This led him into taxidermy full time and the founding of Hibler Taxidermy in 1963. Later on, Joe started two more successful businesses, The Wildlife Collection and most recently, Hibler Wild Game Processing. Hibler Taxidermy and Wild Game Processing have grown to be one of, if not the largest one-stop shop for successful hunters in the United States. Joe T. Hibler truly embodies the American dream and the entrepreneurial spirit. His legacy in the hunting, taxidermy and business world is known far and wide.
By God’s grace he has achieved and seen to fruition what very few have even dreamed of. Many claim he is even famous for the aforementioned, but many people do not know what his greatest legacy is. It is a legacy marked by God’s grace. It is a Hibler family christian heritage that began with his submission to The Lord Jesus Christ in repentance and faith and now spans four generations. God used a devastating gunshot wound sustained in a hunting accident the day after his wedding and a persistent evangelism-minded local preacher to humble Joe and bring him the words of eternal life. Joe received salvation in Christ and then so did his wife. They shared the gospel with their children; their children did the same for their children and so on.
Looking back over 91 years and all the providential events that led Joe to the cross and the life he lived thereafter, it is so clear that his Heavenly Father had him marked from the beginning. God sovereignly orchestrated Joe's life circumstances to draw His child, Joe, to himself. The result: a family tree that is Heaven bound. Joe Hibler’s most well-known and recognizable quality is his work ethic. There are few men that ever lived who chose and loved to work as hard as he did. Even after success came his way, Joe never lived a lavish lifestyle. Joe worked all these years with the sole motivation of providing for the ones he loves and God’s mission to spread the good news of Christ. Joe T. Hibler; an outdoorsman, a businessman, a mentor, a friend, a husband, a father, a grandfather, a great-grandfather, and most importantly a faithful disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He is preceded in death by his wife, Annette (Burkett) Hibler; daughter, Susan Annette Hibler; and parents, Joseph and Margaret Hibler.
Among those left to cherish his memory are his son, David Temple (Michelle) Hibler; grandchildren, April (Craig) Davis, Amber Guillette, Joseph (Krystal) Hibler, and Allen (Tristin) Hibler; great-grandchildren, Lexi and Brock Davis, Daniel Guillette, Emma and Olivia Hibler, Blaine and Blair Hibler; many friends, and countless acquaintances, from lifelong companions to customers and fellow members of the wildlife and hunting community who valued his knowledge, kindness, and companionship.
