Basil S. Strates

Basil S. Strates

August 16,1927- September 19,2010

Basil S. Strates died Sunday, September 19,2010 from pneumonia complicated by Lewy-Body dementia. He was 83.

Basil was born in Finiki, Greece and came to the United States at age 19 to study chemistry at Clark University in Massachusetts. He graduated in 1953 with a B.A. and continued his education in Pharmacology/Biochemistry at the University of Rochester. There, he started his work on bone metabolism.

While in Rochester he met and married Margrith Muhlheim (1957). They returned to Greece where they lived for the next 10 years. During that time Basil received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry /Pharmaceutical Chemistry summa cum laude in 1963 followed by his M.D in 1967. He was one of the pioneer investigators of bone morphogenetic protein.

In 1967, due to the political situation in Greece, Basil and Margrith decided to come to Los Angeles in order for Basil to work at the Bone Research Laboratory at UCLA. He then went on and worked in industry at McGaw Labs, Dow Pharmaceuticals and Adria-Abbot Labs. In 1985 he went back to academics as an associate professor in orthopedic research at Creighton University in Omaha Nebraska and at the VA Medical Center. His final professional position was at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

Colleagues remember him as an enthusiastic and outstanding teacher whose students won numerous awards for research. He was also a devoted mentor of junior faculty. He was known for his integrity and dedication to sharing the results and products of his research. He wrote over 100 publications and his scientific contributions to understanding bone metabolism were immense.

Basil was delighted to be the father of three children, Chris (1958) and Elene (1960) born in Greece and Felix born in Los Angeles (1967). He enjoyed camping and hiking with his family at all the national and state parks in southern California.

He will be remembered for his gregarious nature and genuine curiosity and delight about each person he met.

His marriage to Margrith Muhlheim ended in divorce in 1998. He is survived by her of Boulder, CO; his son, Chris and daughter-in-law Darlene of Omaha, NE; daughter Elene and son-in-law Thomas Mooney and granddaughters Margrith and Kate Mooney of Boulder, CO and son Felix Strates of Minneapolis, MN. He is also survived by his sisters Aliki Dimitriou and Arti Tsongas of Athens, Greece and several cousins, nieces and nephews.

A trisagon memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. on Friday, September 24th at St. Peter and Paul Greek Orthodox Church , 5640 Jay Road in Boulder, CO 80301, Father George Dokos officiating.

In lieu of flowers please consider making a contribution to St. Peter and Paul Greek Orthodox Church in recognition of their generosity and compassion towards Basil in his last few years of his life.

To leave remembrances, please visit www.cristmortuary.com. Arrangements entrusted to Crist Mortuary.