 His father was Hollywood actor Guy Kibbee and his mother was Helen Shay Kibbee; his parents separated when he was a young boy.He attended Xavier High School in Manhattan, New York, and earned a bachelor's degree at Fordham University in 1943.After serving in World War II in the Philippines from 1940 to 1945, Kibbee earned a master's degree in higher education administration from the University of Chicago in 1947, and a doctorate there in 1957.