Myron "Mike" Beigler
Nov. 8, 1926-Jan. 17, 2013
Portola Valley, California

Myron ?Mike? Beigler, biochemist, artist, and longtime resident of Portola Valley, California, died from cancer on January 17, 2013, at the age of 86.

Mike was born in 1926 in Detroit, Michigan. Invited to join the Army Specialized Training Program at 17, Mike was preparing to join the troops abroad when he contracted meningitis, causing him to lose most of his hearing, but enabling him to study biology at the University of Michigan through the remainder of the war.

In 1947, Mike moved to New York City to attend the Art Student?s League, immersing himself in the burgeoning abstract expressionist movement with fellow students Larry Rivers and Alfred Leslie. Together they transferred their GI Bills to New York University in 1948, where Mike earned a BS in Art Education, learning and teaching ceramics while spending his evenings with Tony Smith, Robert Motherwell, and Willem de Kooning among others.

Soon thereafter, matters of practicality turned Mike?s attention from art towards his other true passion: science. He earned his BS degree in biology and chemistry from NYU in 1953, eventually moving to California to work for Lockheed on the Polaris nuclear submarine missile system, preparing reports for President Eisenhower. Mike then embarked on an innovative and prolific career in the field of amino acids and nutrition science. By the end of his career, Mike was named on over 40 U.S. and international patents, having traveled the world and worked with companies in Japan and Germany.

From the late eighties onwards, Mike rededicated himself to ceramics and sculpture. He developed a technique whereby he immersed cloth in hot wax, draping the pieces over each other, and finally creating a bronze rendition of the sculpture. In hanging each piece, Mike sought to explore the beauty and simplicity of gravity itself.

Mike will be remembered for his extraordinary intelligence and talent in both the arts and sciences, his insatiable curiosity, kindness, and readiness to support and mentor those who were lucky to call him friends and family. He is survived by his wife of twenty years, Foster Beigler.

Tags: veteran, arts/media, business