Medical equipment industry leader James "Jim" Beier passed away on Sunday, May 4.
Most of us in the industry knew Jim through his work with Sumitomo. He was very knowledgeable in the cryogenics space and got his start as a mechanical engineer at Bruker. He then worked at GE for seven years. After that, he became the VP of Sumitomo Cryogenics of America, where he spent the last 13 years of his career.
One time, Jim helped me out of a jam shipping an MR overseas.
We had a program of hooking up an air-cooled cold head compressor to keep the cold head running during the voyage. We had a simple problem having to do with the connection cable and some valve that the use of which is above my pay scale. The ship was sailing the next day, and it was a Sunday. Jim got me the part the next day and the ship sailed on time and the MR was under power throughout the voyage.
He was well respected by his coworkers and peers, and I feel fortunate to have known him.
I have been reflecting on Jim's legacy with others who knew him, and a few of them gave me permission to share their comments here.
John Holberg, president of Brooks Medical Systems, told me he met Jim about 10 years ago. "We never actually did any business together but always enjoyed our talks, whether at the Red Head during RSNA, dinners in Chicago or laughing at the Christmas party Marshall Shannon hosted," Holberg said. "We knew many of the same people and retelling of our industry 'war' stories soon became 'can you top this' competitions."
"Towards the end, I never saw or heard Jim feel sorry or engage in self pity," Holberg added. "He fought this with dignity. His only concern, the thought that overrode all else, was of his family's well-being."
Jim Prout, VP of sales at Pinnacle Health, remembers Jim as someone who brought people together and created connections. If two people could benefit from knowing one another, he made it his business to introduce them. Prout also remembers the last time they saw each other.
"He was in Connecticut at the MD Expo introducing Rueben Beltran to everyone as his replacement for Sumitomo. We got to spend some time together and it was only then that I realized that he knew his time was short with us all. He was very relaxed but also very stoic about everything," Prout recalled. "We had been talking about a fishing trip in Stuart with he and his son and it was only during that part of the conversation that it seemed pretty clear that he wouldn’t likely be able to make that happen in the time he had left. I believe he knew it then. He spoke a lot about wanting to spend as much time with his family as he could."
Jim was 62 years old when he passed away from cancer. He leaves behind his wife and two children. To read more about his personal life, or for details on his memorial service, please
see his obituary, (which I have borrowed from here).
"Using a phrase which is overused, Jim truly was one of the good guys. He was a defining example of professional," Holberg told me. "He was always ready with truth... you may not have liked it but you knew it was given with no hidden meaning."
In lieu of flowers, the family is asking for
donations in memory of James Beier to support the Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Chicago Medicine.
"Such a great guy. Great sense of humor!" said Prout. "Amazing family man and such a consummate professional. Someone I’ll always have a great deal of respect for and one of the guys in this business that did his best to make his area of this business better."
Indeed, Jim was a kind, honest, funny, talented, and loyal man.
He will be greatly missed by all who knew him.
Phil is a member of AHRA, HFMA, AAMI and the Cryogenic Society of America. He has contributed to a number of magazines and journals and has addressed trade groups.
Phil's proudest achievement is that he has been happily married to his wife Barbara since 1989, who helped him found DOTmed in 1998.
