DECEMBER 29TH, 1940 - OCTOBER 20TH, 2017
Miguel Angel Julio Perez-Lizano passed away peacefully at home in Battle Ground, WA on October 20, 2017. Miguel was a charismatic, witty, charming and elegant man with a deep sense of justice and social responsibility. Miguel is succeeded in death by his father, Dr. Augustin Perez-Lizano and mother, Rosalia Perez-Lizano y Farre. He is survived by his wife, Betty Jean; son, Miguel; daughter, Elena and brother, Augustin.
Miguel (‘Miki’) was born on December 29, 1940 in Manila, Philippines, just prior to the outbreak of World War II. After the war, his family left Manila, bound for San Francisco, CA. They arrived on August 8, 1946. Miki attended St. Brigid’s Elementary School until enrolling at the San Rafael Military Academy in San Rafael, CA, graduating in 1958. While at San Rafael, Miguel excelled in Varsity basketball. He was nominated All Conference in the Private School League of Northern California for two years.
At the University of California in Berkeley, Miguel also excelled on the Varsity Track and Field team. He pursued his undergraduate and graduate school work at Berkeley, where he earned his Masters of Business Administration in 1964. He married Betty Jean McCartin on October 28th, 1967 in San Francisco. Miguel passed one week short of his 50th wedding anniversary.
Miguel began his professional career while at UC Berkeley as a Systems Engineer with IBM. His early work focused on prototyping the magnetic strip. One of the first uses of this ground breaking technology was for the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) system. His responsibilities also included Research and Development liaison work for an experimental mainframe computer system at Stanford University.
Miguel expanded his work to the financial field where he was employed as a security analysist for various Fortune 500 companies. As an analysist, his interest was in economic forecasting. He followed various technology and insurance company stocks, recommending investments. Following his financial work, Miguel became interested in the environmental, military and health care fields, especially in start-up technologies.
In 1973, Miki was diagnosed with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM). HCM is an autosomal dominant heart muscle disorder characterized by unexplained left ventricular hypertrophy and an increased risk for heart failure and sudden death. Miguel then had a heart attack in 1980 at the age of 40 which severely restricted his ability to work. He devoted his time to the care of his aging parents. His father, Agustin, died in 1981 and his mother, Rosalia, died in 1985.
After the death of his parents, Miguel retired from the business world and purchased a farm in Battle Ground, WA. With the help of his son, Miguel, Miki enjoyed working on the farm and caring for his Holstein cows. As a land steward, Miguel became a partner in the Clark Public Utilities StreamTeam habitat restoration project which helped to restore the salmon habit of the Woodin Creek which ran through his property.
When diagnosed with Lyme disease in the late 1990s, he became a passionate Lyme disease advocate. His story was published in Cure Unknown - Inside the Lyme Epidemic by Pamela Weintraub (2008). Miguel was also a consultant for the 2008 film about Lyme disease, Under Our Skin. Fellow Lyme activist Vickie Travis wrote this touching tribute to about Miguel’s Lyme advocacy work:
"One of the greatest heroes my family has ever known is Miguel. It has been a true pleasure knowing him and he will never be forgotten. He took terrible illnesses and used them to help others. His experience grew his empathy towards others and he has been cherished by those who are not as strong, because he understood. We can all strive to follow his example and hope that in our lives we at least do half as much good. He was a gentle, kind and very strong man who will be greatly missed."
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