Before coming to UH in 1967 he taught at Whittier College in California, Hamline University in Minnesota and the University of Kansas.

Early in his career Bobilin worked with the poor in East Los Angeles, started a "store-front church" in an abandoned ceramics factory and helped residents of the Aliso Village public housing development gain access to government services.

In 1988 Bobilin authored the book "Revolution from Below: Buddhist and Christian Movement for Economic Justice," a book that was an outgrowth of his interest in the interaction between Christianity and Buddhism in Southeast Asia.

Bobilin was extensively involved in the Hawai'i political and religious community and during the last years of the Vietnam War chaired the American Friends Service Committee in Honolulu.

An ordained Methodist minister, he was also on the board of the Hawai'i Institute for Theological Studies and was very active in continuing education for clergy and laymen. Several times he also served as a delegate to the state Democratic Party Convention.

In recent years Bobilin and his wife, Dorothy, were actively involved in the Hawai'i Coalition Against Legalized Gambling, fighting to prevent gambling from coming to Hawai'i.

The son of a Methodist minister, Bobilin graduated from Adrian College in Michigan and received his Master's of Theology and Doctorate of Philosophy degrees from the University of Southern California. He was a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard University doing research in Southeast Asia supported by the Hazen Foundation.

Bobilin is survived by his wife of 50 years, Dorothy Bobilin; two daughters, Cynthia Easley of Gig Harbor, Wash., and Noel "Zaff" Bobilin Furer of Honolulu; a son, Steven Bobilin of Ho-nolulu; a brother, Theodore C. Bobilin of South Carolina and 10 grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held 10 a.m. Jan. 8 at the Church of the Crossroads. The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations in his memory be made to the Hawai'i American Friends Service Committee, 2426 O'ahu Ave., Honolulu, HI 96822.

Arrangements are being handled by the University of Hawai'i Anatomy Department. Bobilin has given his body to the John A. Burns School of Medicine, for use by medical students learning about heart disease.

"He was suffering for a long time with heart problems and had two heart operations," said his son, Steven Bobilin. "He felt it was important to help other people do research. It was very much like him to give everything."