J. Michael Bewley ’67

Mike died Feb. 7, 2024, of complications following open-heart surgery.

A larger-than-life presence to all who knew him, Mike grew up in Phoenix and came to Princeton from Camelback High School. An active member of Tower Club, he starred on the intramural football, basketball, and softball teams, the latter as left-handed shortstop.

After graduation, Mike served in both the Army National Guard and Air Guard sandwiched around earning a law degree from the University of Arizona. He started his own firm in 1975, specializing in employment law. Mike represented clients on claims of discrimination, winning nearly all his cases against large Silicon Valley companies.

He loved playing and watching sports, especially basketball, and managed to attend no fewer than 14 Final Fours.

Still, the most fulfilling aspect of Mike’s life was a decades-long passion for cutting-edge contemporary art. He and his longtime life partner, Elle Travers, searched for works that dealt with difficult social issues and built an extensive collection that represents many issues of our time, including race, gender, and social justice. In 2017, the San Jose Museum of Art hosted an exhibit featuring some of the collection’s most compelling pieces.

Mike is survived by Elle; sister Judy Kelly; niece Kelly Hester; great-niece Amanda Mehr; and great-nephew Ben Hester. He will be remembered by all whose lives he touched as a gregarious, thoughtful, and, yes, competitive person with a ready smile and infectious laugh who made the world better through the light he shined on its social injustices.