Bruce Mueller, a field veterinarian with the Oregon Department of Agriculture, died Aug. 19 at his home in Sheridan, Ore., after a three-year battle with cancer. Mueller was 49.

Mueller was born in Sacramento, Calif., and grew up in Moscow, Idaho, and Corbett, Ore. He graduated from Oregon State University in 1983 with a bachelor's degree in animal science. He went on to obtain a doctorate in veterinary medicine in 1986.

Mueller and his family lived in Linguere, Senegal, from 1991 to 2001, where Mueller worked with a church group to improve herd health and animal production.

Mueller was a member of the Alpha Kappa Lambda Fraternity during college and was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Sheridan.

He received a Fellows Award from OSU in 2009.

At the ODA, Mueller oversaw the Johne's Control Program and the Avian Influenza Control Program.

Mueller enjoyed bicycling, running, farming and raising Herefords.

Survivors include his wife, Kathryn; his four children, Patrick, Tabitha, Silas and Seth; his mother, Dawn Edwards; and her husband Virg Edwards; his father, August Mueller, and his wife, Anne Mueller; sister Cindy Smith and her husband Jeff Smith; brother, Reed Mueller, and his wife, Erin; great-grandfather Harry Martin and numerous aunts, cousins, nieces and nephews. -- Mitch Lies