Michael Kirk Bastian

Michael (Mike) Kirk Bastian was born on September 5, 1942, in Mason City, Iowa, to William Pierce Bastian and Patricia (née Kirk) Bastian. Mike attended Mason City schools and graduated from Mason City High School in 1960. Mike continued his education at Mason City Junior College and graduated in 1962. Mike then attended Iowa State University (ISU). Mike had an entrepreneurial drive, and, while in high school and college, he worked at Birdsall's Ice Cream and maintained a paper route.

After attending ISU, Mike made the brave decision to move to California, lured by the prospects of working with his uncle on the modifications of an old Grumman Widgeon seaplane — a plan that did not come to fruition, but, nonetheless, resulted in a new adventurous life in the West. In CA, Mike worked in various technology-related jobs on the California Central Coast, including at Point Mugu Naval Base and later in Santa Barbara. Eventually, Mike moved to Long Beach, CA, to work as a flight test engineer for McDonnell Douglas Aircraft, working on notable industry-changing projects such as the DC-9 and DC-10 aircraft. In 1967, Mike married Leoma Carr, a McDonnell Douglas co-worker. They had two children, Jennifer and Scott.

MIke continued to work at McDonnell Douglas until starting a successful real estate and property management company, Bastian Properties, which he owned and managed throughout his career. With a passion for flying, inspired by his prior experiences as a flight test engineer and by his uncle, Charles "Chuck" Kirk, a seasoned Navy and commercial pilot, Mike got his private pilot's license. Over the next few decades, Mike owned and piloted two different Cessna airplanes and enjoyed local and cross-country travel with the family, including trips from California to Iowa.

Mike and his family continued to live in Long Beach, CA, until his recent death on March 20, 2021, after a long battle with Parkinson's disease.

Mike is preceded in death by his parents and his daughter, Jennifer Bastian. Mike is survived by his wife, Leoma, and his son, Scott and daughter-in-law, Griselda, Bastian, seven grandchildren Akio (Marissa), Asiel, Mikaela, and Naia Bastian, Damian Santiago, Elijah (Jessica) DeLaCruz Garcia, Joshua Garcia-Kimble, and two great-grandchildren, Sol Bastian and Elena DeLaCruz Garcia. Mike is also survived by his two sisters, Stephanie (John) Ball and Erin (Dennis) Phillips.

The Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, May 15, 2021, at Forest Lawn Mortuary in Long Beach, CA, at 2:00 P.M.

Those wishing to make a charitable donation in tribute to Mike may do so to the Michael J. Fox Foundation by visiting the following link: https://www.michaeljfox.org/donate