Dealer Paul Theibaud died of cancer last weekend. He was a prominent California dealer and the son of Wayne Theibaud. His death has caused a close friend to hasten long-held plans for a real estate project planned around one of his father’s works, according to the Sacramento Press:
Photo of Paul Thiebaud and Mike Heller Jr. and graphic renderings provided to Sacramenot Bee by Heller Pacific
Thiebaud died Saturday of colon cancer at age 49. He had been partnering with developer Mike Heller Jr. on a project to build a modern, mixed-use office building featuring a tile mosaic of the Sacramento River by his father, artist Wayne Thiebaud.
The two friends had planned to build the $12 million, four-story structure to honor their fathers — contractor Mike Heller Sr., who died in 2007, and the elder Thiebaud — and their collaboration on Sacramento Municipal Utility Department headquarters more than 50 years ago. At that time, their fathers teamed up with architect Len Blackford to create a celebrated piece of modern architecture using a mosaic tile mural cityscape by Thiebaud for SMUD.
Paul Thiebaud’s death is inspiring Heller to push forward with the project.
