DR. KENT V. KIBBIE. As one of the foremost members of the medical profession in North Texas Dr. Kibbie has gained a splendid reputation not only as active practitioner, but in the field of medical instruction and journalism. Born at Osceola, Missouri, but reared and educated largely in Illinois, he comes of a family which has furnished more than one eminent disciple of Aesculapius. His father, Dr. H. C. Kibbie, a native of Connecticut, has for many years been a prominent physician in Illinois and is now a specialist in disease of the eye, ear, nose and throat at Chicago. Also Dr. George K. Kibbie, a cousin of Dr. H. C. Kibbie, distinguished himself in this profession. From his home in New York City he went, during the yellow fever epidemic at New Orleans in 1878, to that city to devote his services to the afflicted and while engaged in that noble humanitarian self-sacrifice succumbed to the dread disease. He was the inventor of the Kibbie cot for yellow fever patients, and with this, and his hydropathic treatment, he achieved great success at that time.
Dr. K. V. Kibbie received his education at Princeton, Illinois, at Merom College, Illinois, and finished at DePauw University, Greencastle, Indiana, where he graduated in 1896 with the degree of B. S. His preparation had been every thorough, especially in chemistry and the biological sciences, and after his graduation he came to Fort Worth to accept the chair of chemistry and biology in Fort Worth University, at the same time having charge of the department of chemistry in the medical department of that institution. While engaged in his work as university instructor he also matriculated as a student in the medical department, from which he was graduated with the degree of M. D. in 1899. Then entering Rush Medical College in Chicago, he completed his preparation by graduation in 1900, and with a professional equipment such as few young physicians are privileged to have, returned to Fort Worth and began active practice. His private practice in Fort Worth has been constantly increasing, while at the same time his usefulness in the profession has been extended to other fields. During 1900-1901 he was chief demonstrator of anatomy in the medical department of Fort Worth University, also held the chair of physical diagnosis and hygiene. In 1902 he was elected to the chair of anatomy in the medical department of Baylor University, at Dallas, which position, requiring in the discharge of its duties only part of his time, he still holds, his home remaining in Fort Worth. As a teacher Dr. Kibbie has shown unusual powers both in effective demonstration and also in inspiration, retaining the confidence and affection of his pupils during and after their period of preparation. He is editor and publisher of the Texas Courier of Medicine, the oldest medical journal in the state, and through its columns carries on the same effective work for professional progress and improvement to which his personal efforts are devoted in the class room. He is a member of the Tri-State, the State, and the Tarrant County Medical associations, and for two years was city chemist of Fort Worth.
Dr. Kibbie married Miss Mary Tumlin, the daughter of Rev. Tumlin, a minister of the Baptist church, and of an old Georgia family. They have one son, Horace C. Kibbie.
Source: B. B. Paddock, History and Biographical Record of North and West Texas (Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1906), Vol. II, pp. 205-206.