Horace Augustus "Hoddy" Hildreth, Jr. (December 17, 1931 – December 12, 2019) was an American lawyer, politician, and conservationist in

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

Biography

Hildreth was born in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

, the son of

Horace Hildreth Horace Augustus Hildreth (December 2, 1902 – June 2, 1988) was born in Gardiner, Maine, the son of an attorney. Hildreth attended local schools before graduating from Bowdoin College in the class of 1925 and receiving his LL.B. from Harvard Un ...

and Katherine Cable Wing Hildreth. He grew up in

Cumberland, Maine Cumberland is a town in Cumberland County, Maine. The population was 8,473 at the time of the 2020 census. It is part of the Portland metropolitan area, Maine. Cumberland is one of the wealthiest municipalities in the state. History Cumberlan ...

. He was 14 years old when his father was elected Governor of Maine, at which time his family moved to the

Maine State House The Maine State House in Augusta, Maine, is the state capitol of the State of Maine. The building was completed in 1832, one year after Augusta became the capital of Maine. Built using Maine granite, the State House was based on the design of the ...

Augusta, Maine Augusta is the capital of the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat of Kennebec County. The city's population was 18,899 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth-most populous city in Maine, and third-least populous state capital in the Un ...

. He then attended

Cony High School Cony High School is a public school located in Augusta, Maine, United States that educates students from Grades 9 to 12. Cony draws its students from Augusta, as well as the surrounding communities of Chelsea, China, Jefferson, Palermo, Somervil ...

for three years before transferring to

Deerfield Academy Deerfield Academy is an elite coeducational preparatory school in Deerfield, Massachusetts. Founded in 1797, it is one of the oldest secondary schools in the United States. It is a member of the Eight Schools Association, the Ten Schools Admissi ...

. Like his father and grandfather, he graduated from

Bowdoin College Bowdoin College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. When Bowdoin was chartered in 1794, Maine was still a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The college offers 34 majors and 36 minors, as well as several joint eng ...

. In May 1953, while Hoddy Hildreth was a senior at Bowdoin, President Eisenhower appointed his father United States Ambassador to Pakistan. He spent his final year of undergraduate studies at Forman Christian College in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, before returning to Bowdoin to take his final exams and participate in commencement as a 1954 graduate. He earned a bachelor's degree in English. In 1956, Hoddy Hildreth married the artist Alison Hildreth (''

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

'' Derby). They raised four boys, Daniel, Hasket, Malcolm, and Thomas. He earned a law degree from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

and went on to practice law in Maine at Pierce Atwood, at the time a small firm. A great deal of Hildreth's work was in lobbying for paper companies, but this work was broken off by his successful run for a state senate seat in 1966. Hildreth served in the Maine Senate from Cumberland County, in the 103rd legislature, 1966–1967. He was chairman of the Legislative Research Committee. In 1968, At the end of his term in the Maine Senate, he ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the U.S. Congress. Then he started his own law firm which lobbied in Augusta for environmental causes. Hildreth left his law firm in 1979 in order to serve as chief executive of

Diversified Communications Diversified Communications is a multimedia company, headquartered in Portland, Maine. The company provides market access, education and information through global, national and regional face-to-face events, digital products and publications. Hi ...

, the media company that his father had founded. He continued to serve on the board of directors after his retirement. A dedicated conservationist, Hildreth served on the boards of the Conservation Law Foundation and the Maine League of Conservation Voters. Hildreth died in 2019.

References

1931 births 2019 deaths Politicians from Cambridge, Massachusetts People from Cumberland, Maine Politicians from Augusta, Maine Deerfield Academy alumni Bowdoin College alumni Columbia Law School alumni College of the Atlantic people American expatriates in Pakistan Maine state senators American conservationists Maine lawyers Forman Christian College alumni {{Maine-politician-stub