January 20, 1942 – April 24, 2026
John Bartley Miaullis (Bart) died at home, surrounded by family, at the age of 84.
Bart was born in Seattle, and spent much of his childhood in Bellingham. When he was 15, the Miaullis family moved to Great Falls, Montana and then Boise, Idaho the next year. He attended Borah High School where he played the trumpet in the orchestra, and graduated in the second class of 1960.
Bart attended Boise Junior College until 1962, and then transferred to Oregon State University graduating in 1965. He spent the following summer working at a Salmon canning plant in Alaska, and returned to Corvallis to marry his first wife Laura McWilliams. He earned his Masters in Biochemistry at OSU and found his niche working with the Oregon Department of Agricultural Chemistry analyzing pesticides in the agricultural system.
In 1968, Bart arrived in California in his trademark beige VW Bug to take a job as a pesticide researcher with Stauffer Biochemical Company. For the next 30 years he worked as a biochemist at Stauffer, ICI, Syntex, and AstraZeneca. He retired from Roche in 2007 as the only chemist on their human resources team and served as a mentor to young scientists.
Bart married Patricia Campbell in 1989. They had numerous active adventures together and travelled all over the world. They took many bike trips and walked the 500-mile Camino de Santiago over a two-year period, starting in the summer of 2007. They also visited Japan, Thailand, Cambodia, France, England, Ireland, Rome, Norway, Russia and the Holy Land to name a few places.
Bart had a zest for life and a passion for helping people. He was an independent living skills coach for PARCA from 2003 until his death. He was a faithful member of St William Catholic Church in Los Altos for over 40 years, serving as an usher and a money counter. He also volunteered at Stanford Hospital as a visiting chaplain, praying with the sick and dying in their time of need.
Bart loved music, especially classical music and jazz. He volunteered with the local jazz station KCSM for many years. He always enjoyed a good symphony or opera and would often send video clips to family and friends of impressive orchestra or piano performances.
Bart loved science and read every issue of Science News magazine. When he was diagnosed with a rare non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2017, Bart and Pat joined the International Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia Foundation and travelled to meetings throughout the country to stay informed on discoveries and treatment. After he was diagnosed with B-Cell Lymphoma in 2023, he participated enthusiastically in a CART-T clinical trial at Stanford.
Bart was very active and rode his bike everywhere. He played tennis with friends as long as his health allowed. He was an eternal optimist, and even from his hospital bed, it was not uncommon for him to say “Well, that was a pretty good day!” He died as he lived, always positive, sending reminders and encouraging messages to friends and family right up until the end.
Bart is survived by his wife Patricia, sister Melody, and children Aaron, Kathy, Anne, Johnny, and Megan. He was a dedicated father-in-law to Joe, Maureen, Hansel, and Jeremy. He is also remembered by his eleven grandchildren Lottie, Margaret, Nicholas, Mary Helen, Caitlin, Karis, Emily, Hansel, Helena, Max, and Tirza. He was preceded in death by his parents Basil and Eleanore Miaullis, brother George, and daughter Angela.
Funeral services were held at St William Catholic Church in Los Altos on Saturday May 2. To honor Bart, the family suggests memorial donations to Special Olympics of Northern California.
