Dr. Marshall H. “Spike” Beleau (DVM, Texas A&M ’67), 80, Rio Rancho, New Mexico, died December 23, 2022. Following veterinary school, he served 11 years in the U.S. Air Force. Initially, he served as area veterinarian at the USAF Hospital in Tachikawa, Japan, then as base veterinarian at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi. He then returned to Texas A&M for a masters degree in aquatic animal medicine from the Air Force Institute of Technology. He spent the last six years of his military service working as a research veterinarian in the Marine Mammal Program of the U.S. Navy at the Naval Ocean Systems Center in San Diego, California. Along with medical care of Navy owned marine animals, he was responsible for formulating, conducting, and managing research projects directed toward improving and expanding the capabilities of Navy owned marine animals as working animals and biosensory systems.
Following his military service, Dr. Beleau worked as a research scientist and professor in the Department of Fishery Resources of the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho, and then in the Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine’s Aquatic Animal Health Laboratory at the Delta Branch Experiment Station in Stoneville, Mississippi. He designed and conducted research in aquatic animal health management, aquaculture, infectious and non-infectious diseases of fish, physiology, and aquatic toxicology. He also performed fish health diagnostic procedures for the public and taught both graduate and undergraduate courses. At Mississippi State University, he established an aquatic animal health program integrating College of Veterinary Medicine resources and personnel with the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station and Mississippi Cooperative Extension Service aquaculture program. There, his research and development efforts included methods of cost effective diagnosis, prevention, treatment, and control of fish diseases as well as safety and efficacy testing of new drugs and biologics for use with food fish.
He finished his veterinary career researching and developing products for animal health with Abbott Laboratories in North Chicago, Illinois, particularly anti-infective therapeutics for worldwide aquaculture markets and veterinary anesthesia products. Dr. Beleau achieved global recognition in the fields of marine animal health and aquaculture, authoring numerous scientific publications and serving on many professional boards and committees. He was a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine and certified as a Fish Pathologist by the American Fisheries Society Fish Health Section. He was a Life Member of the International Association for Aquatic Animal Medicine and an IAAAM Board Member from 1992 to 1994.
Retirement allowed Dr. Beleau to pursue his many interests, which included bicycle touring, motorcycling, hiking, camping, travel, scubadiving, snorkeling, fishing, sailing, canoeing, kayaking, cross country skiing, tree climbing, woodcarving, pickleball, hot air ballooning, petsitting, watching movies, spending time with friends, and background acting in movies and television shows. He rode his bicycle self-supported across the U.S. from San Diego, California, to St. Augustine, Florida, and from Canada to Mexico along the Continental Divide. He was always up for adventure and well-liked in any setting.
Dr. Beleau is survived by his wife Dr. Marilyn Chimes (DVM, Michigan State ’79), two sons, three grandchildren, and two great-granddaughters.
(Provided by Dr. Marilyn Chimes)
