Michael Gulevich
1961-Nov. 6, 2020
El Prado, New Mexico

Michael Gulevich passed away at his home in El Prado New Mexico on November 6, 2020. Family and friends are deeply grieved and shocked by his sudden and unexpected passing from an aortic aneurism. He was 59 years old.

Michael was born in 1961 in Chicago, Illinois. The family moved to California in 1963, when his father took on a teaching position at Stanford University. Michael attended Ponderosa and Nixon elementary schools, Terman Junior High School and Gunn Senior High School. He was well known for his athletic abilities, especially in basketball and track and field. He attended his first and second years of college at Stanford, afterwards transferring to the University of California at Berkeley, where he completed his B. A. in English literature. Never shy to take on a new adventure, in his young adult years he worked as a bartender, an editor for a scientific journal published at Stanford, and as a staff member in the sleep research center at Stanford University. He also took off for several years of travel abroad with a good friend, including a long stint in Israel, where, among other things, he lived on a kibbutz and picked up conversational Hebrew. They then travelled extensively in the Sudan and other parts of Africa. He also travelled on his own to India and Thailand, where he spent a year or so in a Buddhist monastery. There he studied and practiced Buddhism, helped with the translation of certain Buddhist texts into English, and taught the basic principles of Buddhism to visiting tourists. In addition, he lived and worked for about a year in Taiwan, where he taught English as a second language.

After returning to the U.S., he lived for several years in the Denver area, where he joined a couple of his good friends in the ownership of a brew pub, which they ran together for several years. Michael learned how to brew beer and became the master brewer for the business.

During his Denver years, he made his first trip to the Taos area. He fell in love with the area, the people, and lifestyle. He returned to California for a few years after leaving Denver, but then came back to the southwest, buying a house just outside Taos and taking his new pre-publishing editorial business with him. He loved playing golf and became a member of the local golf club. He also skied and worked part-time for a few seasons up at the ski slopes. He was an excellent cook and the many family members and friends who came to visit him in Taos will remember the wonderful meals he served them and his generous hospitality.

Everywhere Michael went he made new friends. Most people who came to know him in any depth kept him as a friend even after their lives took them in different directions. His mourners include people whose friendships with him date back to elementary school and high school, as well as people from every other stage of his life. He was easy-going, fun to be with, and generous. He was a good listener, and he possessed a kind heart as well as a good sense of humor. He would do anything to help out a friend or family member. His heart went out to the vulnerable, and he helped a number of older people about town in quiet ways, with his time, his physical strength, his listening ear, and his “fix-it” skills.

Known affectionately by many Taos locals as “Big Mike,” Michael will be mourned and remembered by many in Taos, Denver, and the Bay Area. His surviving family members include his mother Elizabeth Gulevich and his sister Tanya Gulevich, both of whom reside locally, as well as his brother Steven Gulevich, sister-in-law Trish Gulevich, and his nephew and niece Grant and Nicole Gulevich, who reside in the Denver area.

A local memorial service for Michael will be held at the Taos golf club at a future date. A service will be held for him also in California after Covid restrictions have been lifted. Condolence mail to the family may be sent to P.O. Box 1288, Los Altos CA 94023. Donations in his memory may be made to the charity of your choice serving the poor or vulnerable, or to the gofundme memorial planned for him at his old elementary school. https://www.gofundme.com/f/basketball-court-renovations-lucille-nixon-school