Dr. Philip B. Bestic

August 14, 1944 - November 20, 2020

Dr. Philip Brereton Bestic died November 20, a victim of rapacious pancreatic cancer which he had self-diagnosed three weeks before. Born August 4, 1944 in Minneapolis, MN to Major General (USAF) John B. Bestic and Frances L. Powell, he was the middle of three sons. The “Real Dr. Phil,” as labeled by a nurse colleague, practiced medicine-arguably his third career- in the Grand Strand for better than three decades. Phil Bestic was an eclectic personality with a varied background. He was educated at Duke (BA/History), William & Mary (ABD grad work in History), Kansas University (PHD/Biochemistry) and the American University of the Caribbean (MD). His educational path was interrupted by four years in the Air Force, including one year in the Vietnam conflict engaged in special intelligence, leaving as a Captain. Subsequently he worked first as an environmental research chemist for Waste Management in Kansas City, and then as an Information Technology coordinator/programmer for Pioneer Financial Services. When his marriage ended in divorce, Phil decided to follow his childhood love, go to medical school and become a physician. He did so. In his medical persona, Phil was board certified (and regularly recertified) in ER medicine (he trained and mentored rural ER doctors throughout the Carolinas), Internal Medicine and more recently Gerontology. He founded Beach Medicine, a family practice in Surfside Beach, which operated until June 2019. Personally, Phil was an avid runner (100 miles per month) until derailed by a hip replacement, which required him to become a devoted walker. He loved to fly general aviation aircraft, and at one point was a certified civilian flight instructor. Phil essentially liked to “Fix things;” people in the medical context, computers, automobiles, broken household items including plumbing, carpentry…virtually anything. Aside from medicine, Phil loved the beach, sailing-sail boats (not power “Stink Pots”), working with computers and learning new programming languages. He was utterly unmaterialistic and had a voracious thirst for knowledge, to the extent he had no television in his home because it might detract from learning. He is survived by two brothers; John Bestic Jr of Pawleys Island and Jeff Bestic of Aspen, CP; two nephews, John Bestic 3rd of Las Vegas, NV and Edward Bestic of Alexandria, VA, and a niece, Laura Alvarey of Windhoek, Namibia; plus, three grandnephews and a grandniece. Contributions in Phil’s name can be made to the National Foundation for Cancer Research, Bethesda, MD. A beach memorial ceremony will be held near Christmas, when other family members can travel to Pawleys Island. Sign an online guestbook at www.goldfinchfuneralhome.com Goldfinch Funeral Home, Beach Chapel is in charge of the arrangements.