Frederick William Beutlich, 86, of Deerfield, former president of a pharmaceutical company that took the sting out of Novocain shots thanks to the topical anesthetic it made, died of cancer Friday, Oct. 6, in Sturgeon Bay, Wis., where the Beutlichs kept a summer residence. Beutlich Pharmaceuticals is internationally known for its “Hurricaine” pain reliever, a salve that goes on before Novocain shots or oral surgery, numbing the mouth. The company also makes Periden-C, an enriched vitamin pill, and numerous other pharmaceutical products. “When he got into it, he got very interested in it,” said his wife, Lois, who said her husband had a high school education and learned pharmacology on his own. “He was a very energetic man. He wanted to try it.” He graduated from Roosevelt High School in Chicago in 1932, and then worked in insurance during the Depression. In 1940, he married Muriel Lewis, the same year Mr. Beutlich also went to work for J. B. Roerig, a pharmaceutical company later bought by Pfizer. He worked as a national sales manager for both companies. But in 1953, convinced he could make it on his own, Mr. Beutlich, his brother and their father started their own pharmaceutical company in Chicago. Still in operation, the now Waukegan-based Beutlich Pharmaceutical is one of the nation’s leaders in topical anesthetics, and is run by his son. Mr. Beutlich retired in the mid-1990s but never stopped promoting his company or its products. He was married in 1976 to Lois Wilson, five years after his first wife died. The grandson of a Norwegian merchant sailboat captain, Mr. Beutlich loved boating and for years traveled much of the Great Lakes and the United States’ coastal areas with his second wife. The name of their 40-foot cabin cruiser, she said, was “Hurricaine,” after his company’s product. In addition to his second wife, Mr. Beutlich is survived by a daughter, Jill Schneider; a son, Jack; a brother, John T.; four grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. Visitation for Mr. Beutlich will be from 6 until 8 p.m. Wednesday in the Kelley & Spalding Funeral Home, 1787 Deerfield Rd., Highland Park. A service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Thursday in the funeral home.
