Michael S. Bereman born July 3, 1981 of Apex, NC passed away peacefully at home on March 17, 2021 surrounded by his loving wife, family and friends. Michael bravely battled Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS/Lou Gehrig’s Disease) for 6 years.
An Apex native, Michael attended AV Baucom Elementary, Apex Middle, and Apex High Schools (graduating class of 2000). While he was an avid athlete and sports fan, his greatest love was the game of basketball, playing from the age of 4 with his older brother Matthew all the way to varsity basketball at Apex High School, which was one of his fondest memories. His formative years were truly shaped by his “small town” community and playing sports which yielded relationships with friends, teachers and coaches that would last a lifetime.
Michael was a lifelong Wolfpack fan, proudly earning his BS in Chemistry with a minor in Mathematics in 2004 and his PhD in Analytical Chemistry in 2009, both from NC State University. He would then continue to the University of Washington in Seattle for a postdoctoral position in the Genome Sciences department while he and wife Meagan enjoyed life as newlyweds in the Pacific Northwest for several years.
A faculty position at NC State University in 2013 would then bring Michael back to the east coast and his alma mater to start his dream job in the College of Sciences and begin his own family where he was raised. Michael’s doctoral and postdoctoral research was shaped by biomarker research for many diseases, but it wasn’t until his own diagnosis of ALS in 2015 would his focus forever be changed. Michael quickly became a giant in the field of ALS research and enjoyed sharing his passion for science with his students, where their work together would be published in top tier journals. His collaborations as a tenured Associate Professor and University Faculty Scholar would forge relationships around the world. He was awarded prestigious grants from the Department of Defense, the national ALS Association and other elite universities and research institutions to continue his pursuit of novel and dedicated research to ultimately find a cure for ALS. The Bereman’s family motto was shaped by Coach Jim Valvano’s famous quote, “Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up!” and Michael lived by these words. He worked furiously right up to a few days before his passing by utilizing his eye gaze computer technology.
Michael’s passion and drive for life was evident in all that he did and all whom he loved and held close in his life. May we all continue to never give up and fight with each earthly breath to make a difference and change the world, just as he did. We are forever grateful for his mark left on our hearts, and the legacy left in his beloved children Mason and Millie who will surely follow in their Daddy’s footsteps of always being “Bereman Brave”.
Michael is survived by his loving wife Meagan Myers Bereman, children Michael Mason, and Millicent Middleton, adoring parents Dr. Robert Deane Bereman and Barbara Jo Melbourne Bereman of Apex and beloved brother Dr. R. Matthew Bereman (Julie) and nieces Madelyn Mae and Aubrey Rose of Fuquay-Varina.
When Great Trees Fall
When great trees fall, rocks on distant hills shudder,
lions hunker down in tall grasses, and even elephants lumber after safety.
When great trees fall in forests, small things recoil into silence, their senses eroded beyond fear.
When great souls die, the air around us becomes light, rare, sterile.
We breathe, briefly.
Our eyes, briefly, see with a hurtful clarity.
Our memory, suddenly sharpened, examines,
gnaws on kind words unsaid, promised walks never taken.
Great souls die and our reality, bound to them, takes leave of us.
Our souls, dependent upon their nurture, now shrink, wizened.
Our minds, formed and informed by their radiance, fall away.
We are not so much maddened as reduced to the unutterable ignorance of dark, cold caves.
And when great souls die, after a period peace blooms, slowly and always irregularly.
Spaces fill with a kind of
soothing electric vibration.
Our senses, restored, never to be the same, whisper to us.
They existed. They existed.
We can be. Be and be better. For they existed.
-Maya Angelou