Chuck Bieler, who served a dozen years as executive director of the San Diego Zoo, helped open the Wild Animal Park and then worked decades raising money to support both institutions and wildlife conservation, died Nov. 7. He was 89.
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance officials called Bieler “an extraordinary leader, friend and cherished member” of the organization, where he worked for 55 years.
Bieler was hired at the San Diego Zoo in 1969 and served as its executive director from 1973 to 1985. Officials said he not only helped establish the Wild Animal Park, now known as San Diego Zoo Safari Park, but played a “pivotal role” in the founding of the Frozen Zoo, known then as CRES or the Center for Reproduction of Endangered Species.
After leaving the director job, he took charge of the zoo’s development department, where he forged close relationships with donors and helped raise millions for zoo priorities.
He also is credited with helping in the rescue and recovery of the critically endangered California condor and assisting in the creation of the koala conservation program in U.S. zoos.
“Chuck’s legacy is woven into the fabric of the Alliance, and his contributions continue to inspire our mission,” the alliance said in a statement.
In 2014, he was awarded the Conservation Advocate Medal by zoo leaders. In 2016, Bieler was given the R. Marlin Perkins Award for Professional Excellence by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the organization’s highest honor.
Bieler was born in East Greenville, Penn., the ninth child of parents Emma and Frederick Bieler. He attended Gettysburg College in the ROTC program and joined the U.S. Army, attaining the rank of captain. While stationed in Europe, he went on leave in Nice, France, and met his future wife, Judy Goodwin. The couple married in 1963. Judy died in 2018.
After leaving the military, the Bielers settled in Northern California, where Chuck worked for General Motors. The family relocated to San Diego, where Judy’s family had deep roots. Bieler landed a job at the zoo to lead group sales.
He knew little about animals, but Bieler was a people person — thoughtful, kind and friendly with a ready smile. Zoo colleagues recall him having an open-door policy and warmly encouraging and supporting those around him.
Adrienne Finley, who met Bieler in 1974 when she was hired in group sales, said he helped organize a blood drive after her mother was diagnosed with acute leukemia. “He was a warm, decent, kind human being,” said Finley, who became assistant director of development. “I learned a lot through Chuck and the rest of the folks there who were so special.”
Bieler also had a good sense of humor.
Finley recalled one time when she and Bieler walked past the gorilla habitat at Safari Park and a western lowland gorilla named Trib spotted Bieler and apparently recognized him. (Trib had been at the zoo since 1960 and was named in honor of Union-Tribune publisher James S. Copley, who donated the funds to acquire him.)
Finley didn’t know what to expect, but Bieler did.
“Don’t do it, Trib, don’t do it,” Bieler called out to the animal, to no avail. The gorilla “defecated in his hand and threw it at Chuck,” Finley recalled.
Bieler, she said, “just kind of shook his head. I think he was a little bit embarrassed.”
Georgeanne Irvine, who has worked at the zoo since 1978, considered Bieler a friend and mentor. In a Facebook post, she recalled a funny tradition they shared that began when she complained at a zoo event that her shoes were too tight. Bieler handed her his shoes to wear — and put hers on to stretch them out.
“We were in hysterics,” she wrote in a Facebook post. “That started a tradition between us: At every Zoo event we would always trade shoes for a few minutes, which made us laugh as well as everyone else around us.”
Bieler’s life story was the basis of a 2022 book titled “Heart of the Zoo: How San Diego Zoo Director Chuck Bieler Earned his Stripes” published by the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Press. “To really think about your life, how you lived it and what you did, has been the most rewarding thing,” he told the Union-Tribune in 2022.
Author Kathi Diamant talked frequently with Bieler as she researched the book. She recalled how, when they took walks at the zoo, they wouldn’t get very far before Bieler would be stopped by someone he knew. “He remembered their family members, anniversaries, challenges and asked how they were doing,” she said. “… I have never met a more people-oriented person.”
The zoo was not only an important part of Bieler’s life but his family’s, too. The family station wagon had a license plate that read ZOOWAP. When they were little, all three kids had birthday parties at the zoo, recalled his son, Stewart. Two of Bieler’s children later held their wedding receptions there, too.
“He was a great person. He was a great dad,” Stewart said. “San Diego lost somebody who loved the city.”
Bieler is survived by his son Stewart and daughters Beatriz Liles and Christina Wygant; a brother, Willard Bieler; and eight grandchildren. A service is scheduled for Dec. 21 at Point Loma Community Presbyterian Church. The family suggests donations to the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.
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