Obituary of Graham Molineux

July 27, 1957 - October 16, 2013 Graham Molineux, age 56, of Moorpark, California, died peacefully and comfortably in his home surrounded by his loving immediate family (his three children and his current and former wife), having battled a very aggressive brain tumor (Glioblastoma Multiforme) for the last 18 and a half months with a strength of character, delightful good humor, independence, and strong will that anyone who knew him could attest. After extensive brain surgery on April 4th, 2012, he returned home 5 days later, walked all around Cedars Sinai (including climbing stairs) 7 days later, walked to the railroad tracks and back by himself on day 8, and drove himself to Amgen in the rain on day 9, much to the amazement and delight of his colleagues and the consternation of his beloved Beth (it was Friday the 13th after all). He even road his other beloved (his new 2012 Kawasaki Concourse) 3 months later, and although it resulted in a crash designed, he protested, just to keep Beth on her toes (and incidentally only broke his little toe), he persisted in doing all that he loved including gardening, working in the yard with various two - and four-stroke engines, driving his tractor around during weed clearance, playing guitar and cooking and baking and sewing the hem in Jake's work scrubs. Graham was born on July 27, 1957 near to, and raised in, Cheadle Hulme, Cheshire, England where he resided with his beloved parents Margaret and Stanley, and his brother Ian Molineux. He married Christine Trimble in 1980and together they raised two lovely sons, Huw and Jake Molineux and they all immigrated to the US in 1994 when Graham took a position as Research Scientist at Amgen in Thousand Oaks, CA. Shortly thereafter, Chris and Graham went their separate ways, but both continued to live in Moorpark, CA and amicably worked together as a family with their respective new spouses to raise Huw and Jake and their two sisters, Rachel and Tori. Graham was a very industrious young man and began working at a dry cleaner and later a food inspection plant at a young age. From 1974 to 1994, he worked in Cancer Research at the Patterson Institute for Cancer Research at Christie Hospital in Manchester. While there, not only did he prove himself to be quite the prankster (see https://www.facebook.com/friendsofgrahammolineux), but he also earned his Masters of Science in 1984 and his Ph.D., in 1992 from the University of Manchester. His greatest contributions to cancer research occurred at Amgen where he rose to the rank of Executive Director of Hematology Research and had 30+ talented scientists working with him to develop many medicines to counteract the effects of chemotherapy including but not limited to, Neupogen, Epogen, Aranesp, Neulasta, and N-Plate. He was intelligent, energetic, generous, funny, and entertaining; his family, friends, and colleagues will miss him greatly. He is preceded in death by his father, Stanley Molineux, and aunt, Ena Molineux. He is survived by his mother, Margaret Molineux; wife, Beth (nee Le Poire) Molineux, sons, Huw Molineux and Jake Molineux, and daughter Rachel Molineux, Huw and Jake's Mother, Christine Plummer, and her and Duane's daughter Tori Plummer; brother Ian (Trace) Molineux, and sisters Alison (Mike) Morris and Gil (StJohn) Bird. He is also survived by nieces, Toni Molineux, Shelly Molineux, Zoe Westwell, Ashley Morris, Holly (Iain) Taylor, Ashley (Casey) Williams, Kate Redner and nephews, Dale Morris and Curtis Morris, Daniel and Stephan Bird, Matthew (Amanda) Le Poire, Ryan Redner, Andy Redner, and Chris (Bre) Redner; much extended family; many many beloved friends; and his beloved Cassidy, Casper, and Cocoa. The family wishes to express its tremendous gratitude to Beth's colleagues at Ventura County Medical Center Oncology Infusion Center who helped guide them to the amazing level of competent and compassionate care he received from Dr. Jethro Hu, Dr. Behrooz Hakimian, and Dr. Ray Chu at Cedars Sinai. They all treated him with the utmost respect as a cancer researcher and trusted colleague. The family also wishes to extend its gratitude to the myriad of intrepid travelers from Amgen (even those lovely hearted souls who had been laid off from Amgen 6 months earlier) who chauffeured him to Cedars for 30 days of radiation immediately following the surgery. He immensely enjoyed the engaging and personal conversations he had with his colleagues as a result of those trips. Finally the immense support of friends and family in 16 weeks of British and American visitors over the last year and a half brought the world and joy to Graham in his final time on earth, and provided him with some of the most delicious of his final meals. We cannot thank you enough. A US Celebration of Graham's Life will be held at the Westlake Village Inn (http://www.westlakevillageinn.com), 31943 Agoura Road, Westlake Village, CA 91361 on Friday November 1st from 1-3:30. Kindly send an email to thebegleys@aol.com if you plan to attend so that we may adequately for the buffet. A UK Celebration of Graham's life will be held at the Village Inn Cheadle at the location of Graham's grammar school on Tuesday, November 26th at 1:30. If you plan to attend the UK Celebration, kindly send an email to alibobs2@hotmail.co.uk so that we can adequately plan for the buffet.