Person Page - 594

     Melvin Burnois Shuler was born on 30 October 1927 at Bonham, Fannin County, Texas.¹ He was the son of Fred Burnois Shuler and Lela Belle McCraw.¹ He married Evelyn Davis in 1968.² He died on 8 April 2007 at Bonham, Fannin County, Texas, at age 79.³

Mr Melvin B Shuler
MELVIN B. SHULER Noted developer helped lure Cowboys to Irving

Melvin B. Shuler was a pioneering Irving developer whose accomplishments included giving the city its first elevator and supporting projects that became town landmarks.

He also was among the first developers in the area to attempt planned residential development and modular housing.

Mr. Shuler, 79, died Sunday of natural causes at a veterans facility in Bonham, Texas. A memorial will be at 2 p.m. today in the Donnelly's Colonial Funeral Home chapel in Irving.

"He was always 20 years ahead of his time," said Jim Widener, a retired Irving title lawyer. "He built some houses in Irving with basements, where nobody had had basements before. He always just seemed to be looking to the future."

Mr. Shuler advocated annexing Las Colinas into Irving and helped recruit the Dallas Cowboys to the city, said his son, Mel Shuler Jr. of Dallas.

Mr. Shuler and some of his contemporaries were responsible for putting Las Colinas and Texas Stadium in Irving instead of Dallas, his son said. "Today, if you say Irving, Texas, anywhere in the country, people will know where it is," his son said.

"If it weren't for Melvin, it would never have happened," Mr. Widener said of the Cowboys' move from the Cotton Bowl to Irving.

Mr. Shuler was both a visionary real estate developer and a devoted family man, said his daughter, Janet Powell of Irving.

"He was a great father," Ms. Powell said. "He always said family was there when no one else was."

Mr. Shuler had a dry sense of humor that was sometimes corny, his daughter said.

"He wasn't afraid to dream," Ms. Powell said. "He was innovative, and sometimes he was ahead of his time."

Born in Bonham, Mr. Shuler grew up in the Sherman-Denison area, where his maternal and fraternal grandparents had farms.

He moved with his family to Dallas as a teenager and graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1945.

Mr. Shuler joined the Army 10 days after graduation. He trained in Colorado to serve with mountain and ski troops in preparation for a possible invasion of Japan, his family said.

After completing his military service, he returned to Dallas, where he received a bachelor's degree in marketing from Southern Methodist University in 1950.

He started his career selling insurance in Dallas and became a salesman for Mayflower Investment Co., which developed the Plymouth Park neighborhood in Irving.

In February 1957, Mr. Shuler organized Foresight Homes to build custom homes in Irving. He and his partners expanded Foresight to include divisions for residential development, land investments and modular housing.

In 1959, he was elected president of the Irving Home Builders Association. He served on the Irving Planning and Zoning Commission from 1960 to 1969.

In 1961, Mr. Shuler began construction of a medical arts center that was home to Irving's first elevator, his son said.

"It had the first elevator ever in the entire city," his son said.

"With all those buildings out in Las Colinas that are 30 stories high, the fact that he built the first one with an elevator has always fascinated me."

In 1964, Mr. Shuler broke ground on the first of five buildings he planned for his Towne Square project, a 6-acre commercial development on West Irving Boulevard.

One week later, he announced a 240-acre residential development, MbarS Acres, about two miles southwest of Grapevine. The MbarS featured a community common with horse stables and bridle paths.

Mr. Shuler's land purchases included a tract that became part of Texas Stadium.

Those 19 acres at what would soon be the intersection of several major highways seemed like the perfect place for a stadium.

He sold the property but didn't profit from the eventual land sales or stadium construction.

In 1968, he married Evelyn Davis. Mrs. Shuler died in 1992.

In addition to his son and daughter, Mr. Shuler is survived by a stepson, Ken Collins of Flower Mound; a sister, Marlene Fugate of Bonham; and 10 grandchildren.

Memorials may be made to the American Heart Association or the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.
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Dallas Morning News, The (TX) - Thursday, April 12, 2007.²

     Michael Shuler was born circa 1810 at Virginia.¹ He was the son of Michael Nicholas Shuler Jr. and Charity Anna Myers.¹ He married Ann Russell, daughter of Phillip Russell and Rebecca Russell, on 9 March 1839 at Grayson County, Virginia.¹ He died on 26 August 1855 at Grayson County, Virginia.¹

     Michael Nicholas Shuler was born circa 1742 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.¹ He was the son of Johann Adam Shuler.² He married Sophia Margarette Hittel in 1763 at Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania.¹ He died in 1818 at Salisbury, Rowan County, North Carolina.

     Michael Nicholas Shuler Jr. was born on 9 March 1759 at New Hanover, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania.² He was the son of Michael Nicholas Shuler and Sophia Margarette Hittel. He married Charity Anna Myers, daughter of Unknown Myers, before 1803 at USA. He died on 23 February 1862 at Grayson County, Virginia, at age 102.²

     Michael Stevens Shuler is the son of Thaniel Ray Shuler and Dovie Pruitt.¹

     Nellie A. Shuler was born in May 1884 at Morgan County, Indiana.¹ She was the daughter of William A. Shuler and Mary Caroline Dow.¹

     Orlena M. Shuler was born on 28 December 1862 at Grayson County, Virginia.¹ She was the daughter of David Shuler and Polly Garden.¹ She married Alex Morefield before 1895 at Virginia.³ She died on 12 March 1929 at Lee County, Virginia, at age 66.⁴

     Osie O. Shuler was born circa 1873 at Indiana.¹ She was the daughter of John Kindred Shuler and Sarah Jane Ground.¹

     Patricia Shuler is the daughter of Thaniel Ray Shuler and Dovie Pruitt.¹

     Patricia Elaine Shuler is the daughter of Billy Ray Shuler and Betty May Walker.¹ She married Don Alton Ware before 1970 at USA.