Jerry Lee Tyler
Sept. 21, 1900-June 9, 1946

Niles Daily Star, Monday, June 10, 1946, page 1, col. 8, cont. page 2, col. 4, microfilm Niles District Library

Third Member of Family Dies at 9:35 P.M. Sunday

Combined Services Are

Conducted for Niles

Industrialist, Family

Combined funeral services were held today in the First Presbyterian church of Niles for the three members of the Jerry Tyler family of Niles--all victims of the LaSalle hotel fire in Chicago last Wednesday.

Succumbs Sunday Night

The third member of the family, Mr. Tyler, 45-year-old leading industrialist and prominent Niles civic leader died at 9:35 p.m. last night in St. Luke's hospital Chicago. Death was attributed to carbon monoxide poisoning. He had not . .[illegible] ..immediate victims of the holocaust had been his wife Mary, 40, and son Michael, 11.

Business Suspended Here

Business was suspended while hundreds of person attended the triple rites.

Niles stores were closed form 3 to 4 p.m. and the city hall closed its doors at 3 p.m. in tribute to the late industrialist and leader in both state and local civic affairs.

The church was expected to be thronged with friends and business associates of the Tyler family.

Conducted by Rev. Greenhoe

Originally scheduled for the first two victims, the funeral arrangements were changed this morning to include the husband and father as well.

Services were conducted by the Rev. T.M. Greenhoe and interment was made in the mausoleum at Silverbrook cemetery.

Native of Saginaw

The son of Leon L. and Minnie Sturdevant Tyler, he was born in Saginaw, Mich., Sept 21, 1900, and has been a resident of Niles since 1932 when he moved the offices of the Tyler Sales Fixture company here from Michigan.

Tyler graduated from Traverse city high school in 1918, and spent two years at the United States Naval Academy and one year at the Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Col. After leaving school, he became a salesman with the Shaw Walker company, Muskegon, and in 1924 and 1925 he conducted a retail business in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

In September 1927, he organized the Tyler Sales Fixture company, a business which he conducted under that name until 1937, when he company was reorganized as the Tyler Fixture Corporation. The company manufactures and sells steel display and steel storage equipment for handling perishable foodstuffs.

He was married Feb. 11, 1926 to the late Mary Witt Tyler, in Bowling Green, KY. She was the daughter of Vernon and Rosa Witt.

Active in Affairs

Tyler was active in community and political affairs in Niles and throughout the state. He was a member of the Berrien county draft board No. 3 from the date of its inception and was appointed by Governor Kelly in the aviation advisory committee to work in cooperation with the State Planning Commission and the Michigan Board of Aeronautics. He was a trustee of Alma college and also was a member of the Republican state central committee from the Fourth district.

Deeply interested in youth work, Tyler was one of the founders of the Local YMCA and a member of the state YMCA committee.  During the first year of YMCA operations here, the entire first year's budget was provided by the Tyler company.

Tyler was a member of the First Presbyterian church, Masons, Elks, Niles Rotary club, Kappa Sigma fraternity, the Indiana club, the South Bend country club the American Legion, and the Orchard Hills country club.

Dr. Leon L. Tyler
April 26, 1869-Jan. 18, 1965

Niles Daily Star, Tuesday, January 19, 1965, page 1, col. 5-6, cont. page 9, col. 7, microfilm Niles District Library

AUTHOR, INDUSTRIALIST

Dr. Leon L. Tyler, Niles Educator, Dies

DR. LEON L. Tyler, 95, of 701 Topinabee Road, educator, author, philanthropist and industrialist, died at 10:30 p.m. Monday at the Dor-A-Lin nursing home here. He had been in failing health for several months.

He was born April 26, 1869, in Austin, Minn., and married Minnie Sturdevant on Thanksgiving Day 1896.

Mrs. Tyler is a patient at Pawating Hospital where she underwent major surgery last Saturday.

Dr. Tyler is survived by his widow; and a son, Robert L. Tyler Sr.; three grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren. His other son, Jerry, founder of the the Tyler Sales-Fixture Company, now Tyler Refrigeration Division, Clark Equipment Company, died along with his wife, Mary,and their 11-year-old son, Michael, in the Lasalle Hotel fire in Chicago in 1946.

In 1900, Dr. Tyler earned his law degree from the University of Michigan and six years later he won a bachelor of arts degree from Earlham (Ind.) College. In 1907 he accepted the position of superintendent of the Three Rivers High School. He held the same position at Traverse city and Muskegon Heights.

* * *

FROM 1928 to 1936 he served as professor of education at Alma College. During these years he did graduate study at Harvard University, the University of Chicago, Columbia University, received his master of arts degree from the University of Michigan and was admitted to practice law before the Supreme Court of Michigan.

During his years as an educator in Michigan he played a vital part in developing the state's public school system and the building of new physical plants.

An outstanding civic leader and a devoted Christian layman, he served 14 months overseas during World War I as educational secretary of the YMCA and after the armistice was in charge of the education of 28,000 men.

He served as one of the original Board of Directors of the Tyler Refrigeration Corporation. In 1960 he became director emeritus until the merger between Tyler and Clark.

In 1953 Dr. Tyler and his wife gave to Alma College, the Jerry Tyler Student Center as a memorial to their son and his family. Dr. Tyler succeeded Jerry to the Alma Board of Trustees.

* * *

From 1901 to 1906 Dr. Tyler served as principal of Fairmount (Ind.) Academy, where he served as business manager of "The Academician," and authored many articles for the publication.

In 1956 Earlham College gave Dr. Tyler an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.

He was an elder in the First Presbyterian Church; a lifelong Mason holding the 32nd degree, Scottish Rite and a member of the Shrine.

Funeral services will be conducted at 2 p.m. Friday in the First Presbyterian Church. The Rev. John P. MacLachlan, pastor of the church, will officiate. Burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery.

Friends will be received after 7 p.m. Thursday at the Pifer Funeral Home.

Marjorie "Midge" Tyler
Sept. 5, 1940-Oct. 11, 2002

Niles Daily Star, Friday, October 11, 2002,page 2, col. 1, microfilm Niles District Library

Funeral services for Marjorie "Midge" Tyler, 62, of 886 Plym Road, Niles, are Tuesday, Oct. 15, at 11 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church, Niles, by the Rev. Dr. Ronald H. Wakeman of First Presbyterian.

Burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery.

Mrs. Tyler died at 4:30 a.m. today, Oct. 11, at her home, following a brief illness.

She was born Sept. 5, 1940, in Cincinnati, Ohio. On Nov. 12, 1960, in Fort Thomas, Ky., she was married to Taylor "Tim" Tyler, who survives.

She graduated from Fort Thomas High School and attended Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Mrs. Tyler lived in Niles since 1962.

She was a member of First Presbyterian Church, Niles, the Niles Service League, the Ladies' Historical Society, Signal Point Club, and the Captiva Florida Yacht Club.

Mrs. Tyler was a former member of the board of directors of the former Pawating Hospital and a member and past president of the Pawating Hospital Auxiliary.

Survivors, in addition to her husband, include a daughter, Jan Tyler (and Patrick) Brandstatter of Niles, three sons, Scott Littleford (and Nancy) Tyler of Niles, Christopher Taylor(and Shanna) Tyler of Stevensville, and Matthew Stephen (and Amy) Tyler of Granger, Ind.; 12 grandchildren; and a brother, Robert Hilton Stegeman of Williamstown, Mass.

Friends may call at the church's Doratha[sic]Tyler Memorial Chapel beginning at 10 a.m. on Tuesday.

Memorial contributions may be made to Pawating Auxiliary of Lakeland Hospital, Niles, or the Niles-Buchanan YMCA.

Funeral arrangements were handled by Halbritter Funeral Home.

Mary Witt Tyler
1906-June 5, 1946
Michael Tyler
July 13, 1934-June 5, 1946

Niles Daily Star, Thursday, June 6, 1946, page 1, col. 8, cont. page 2, col. 4, microfilm Niles District Library

2 NILESITES DIE IN FIRE

Jerry Tyler, Industrialist, Critically Injured in Blaze

Prominent Niles Family

Victim of Flames Which

Swept Chicago Hostelry

Two Niles persons are dead and a third is in critical condition in a Chicago hospital as a result of the LaSalle hotel fire early Wednesday morning which took a toll of 58 lives with another 200 injured.

The dead are:

Mrs. Mary Tyler, 40, wife of Jerry Tyler, president of the Tyler Fixture Corporation of Niles.

Michael Tyler, 11, their son.

Still unconscious in St. Luke's hospital in Chicago is Jerry Tyler, whose condition was still grave today but whose chances for recovery . .[illegible] physicians as being "50-50."

Feared for His Life

He was unconscious when found in St. Luke's hospital late Wednesday afternoon and was not expected to live through the night but this morning he was reported breathing easier under an oxygen tent although he was still in a grave condition.

Word was received by company officials at 2 p.m. today that the condition of Tyler has improved somewhat during the day and that chances of his recovery are "improving momentarily."

Although still unconscious and under an oxygen tent, his pulse was reported to be stronger and temperatures have lowered somewhat, according to the report from St. Luke's hospital in Chicago, where he is hospitalized.

His father, Leon L. Tyler, of Niles, together with P.A. Hadsell, a close family friend, and Joseph W. Krall and George H. Mayhew, business associates, went to Chicago Wednesday to help with the search and possible identifications.

A brother, Robert Tyler, a company vice-president, was located Wednesday afternoon in Spokane, Wash., where he was on business and, together with his wife, arrived in Chicago by plane this morning.

In Chicago on Business

The Tylers had gone to Chicago late Monday afternoon on business and had intended to return to Niles on Tuesday night by apparently changed their plans stay there until Wednesday morning.

No details were available today as to what part of the hotel they had occupied nor the circumstances which led to the tragic death of Mrs. Tyler and their son.

Suffocation Said Cause

It was learned, however, that both Mrs. Tyler and Michael had died from suffocation and had not been burned.

Although Jerry Tyler also escaped with only minor burns, his condition was aggravated by inhalation of smoke developing rapidly into pneumonia.

Concern for their safety was aroused here shortly after noon Wednesday upon failure to receive any word from them and Joseph W. Krall, a vice-president of the  company who was in the vicinity of Chicago, went into the city to help in a search of hospitals and morgues.

The body of their son, Michael, was identified in one of the morgues and several hours later, Jerry Tyler was found in St. Luke's hospital unconscious and in a critical condition.

Although Mrs. Tyler had been missing since the fire occurred, no definite word concerning her was available until Wednesday night when she was identified by Hadsell.

Had Wintered in Texas

The Tylers had returned to Niles only 10 days ago after spending the winter at Waxahachie, Texas, where the Tyler company has a plant, in addition to the two in Niles and another in Cobleskill, N.Y.

They had intended to stay this summer at their farm home west of Bertrand and the son, Michael, was to have gone shortly to Camp Tesebo, at Pentwater, Mich. for summer camping with several other Niles youths.

The family has been prominently identified with business, social and civic activities in the community since the company moved to Niles from Muskegon Heights in 1932.

Born in Niles July 13, 1934, Michael was their only child and attended school at the Dutch Corners rural school near the family home. During the past year he has been in school in Waxahachie.

Mrs. Tyler was the daughter of Vernon and Rosa Witt, who formerly lived at Bowling Green, Ky. She was married to Jerry Tyler on Feb. 11, 1926.

Active Socially

Since being in Niles she has been active in local Republican circles, have been a president of the Niles Women's Republican club and was also a past president of the Ladies' Reading Club.

Besides her husband, Mrs. Tyler is survived by her mother, in Fort Lauderdale; a sister, Mrs. George English, Jr. of the same city; and a brother, Norman Witt, of Hempstead, Long Island.

Mr. Tyler is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Leon L. Tyler, of Niles, who recently returned home from Florida after spending the winter there.

Served as Alderman

He served for nearly three years on the Niles city council from the second ward, beginning in 1934, resigned from the post in Dec. 1936, after having been reelected for a two-year term in April of that year.

Organizing the Tyler Sales Fixture company in 1927 with three employes, the company started a vigorous growth shortly after moving to Niles in 1932 and which has continued up to the present time.

Engaging in commercial refrigeration the company furnished a large amount of their products to the navy and more recently has expanded the line to include home and commercial "deep freeze" units.

In addition to the plant on North Front street, the company has a new modern factory and office building on Lake street, a plant in Waxahachie, where commercial refrigerators are produced, and a subsidiary in Cobleskill, the Harger Refrigerator Corporation, which was acquired in Nov. 1944.

Politically Prominent

Active in Republican politics, Mr. Tyler is director of Fourth district activities for the party and was a candidate for Michigan national committeeman in 1944 after the overthrow of Frank D. McKay in which he participated at the state convention of that year.

A member of the Niles draft board since it was first organized he is also a trustee of Alma college, a member of the state committee of the YMCA; and a former member of the aviation advisory committee working in cooperation with the State Planning Commission and the Michigan Board of Aeronautics, having been appointed to that body by Gov. Harry Kelly.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Tyler were members of the First Presbyterian church of Niles.

Tentative funeral arrangements have been made for Monday. Mrs. Tyler's mother and sister are expected to arrive in Niles Friday night and her brother will probably arrive here Saturday night or Sunday morning.

Mary Witt Tyler
1906-June 5, 1946
Michael Tyler
July 13, 1934-June 5, 1946

Niles Daily Star, Thursday, June 6, 1946, page 1, col. 8, cont. page 2, col. 4, microfilm Niles District Library

2 NILESITES DIE IN FIRE

Jerry Tyler, Industrialist, Critically Injured in Blaze

Prominent Niles Family

Victim of Flames Which

Swept Chicago Hostelry

Two Niles persons are dead and a third is in critical condition in a Chicago hospital as a result of the LaSalle hotel fire early Wednesday morning which took a toll of 58 lives with another 200 injured.

The dead are:

Mrs. Mary Tyler, 40, wife of Jerry Tyler, president of the Tyler Fixture Corporation of Niles.

Michael Tyler, 11, their son.

Still unconscious in St. Luke's hospital in Chicago is Jerry Tyler, whose condition was still grave today but whose chances for recovery . .[illegible] physicians as being "50-50."

Feared for His Life

He was unconscious when found in St. Luke's hospital late Wednesday afternoon and was not expected to live through the night but this morning he was reported breathing easier under an oxygen tent although he was still in a grave condition.

Word was received by company officials at 2 p.m. today that the condition of Tyler has improved somewhat during the day and that chances of his recovery are "improving momentarily."

Although still unconscious and under an oxygen tent, his pulse was reported to be stronger and temperatures have lowered somewhat, according to the report from St. Luke's hospital in Chicago, where he is hospitalized.

His father, Leon L. Tyler, of Niles, together with P.A. Hadsell, a close family friend, and Joseph W. Krall and George H. Mayhew, business associates, went to Chicago Wednesday to help with the search and possible identifications.

A brother, Robert Tyler, a company vice-president, was located Wednesday afternoon in Spokane, Wash., where he was on business and, together with his wife, arrived in Chicago by plane this morning.

In Chicago on Business

The Tylers had gone to Chicago late Monday afternoon on business and had intended to return to Niles on Tuesday night by apparently changed their plans stay there until Wednesday morning.

No details were available today as to what part of the hotel they had occupied nor the circumstances which led to the tragic death of Mrs. Tyler and their son.

Suffocation Said Cause

It was learned, however, that both Mrs. Tyler and Michael had died from suffocation and had not been burned.

Although Jerry Tyler also escaped with only minor burns, his condition was aggravated by inhalation of smoke developing rapidly into pneumonia.

Concern for their safety was aroused here shortly after noon Wednesday upon failure to receive any word from them and Joseph W. Krall, a vice-president of the  company who was in the vicinity of Chicago, went into the city to help in a search of hospitals and morgues.

The body of their son, Michael, was identified in one of the morgues and several hours later, Jerry Tyler was found in St. Luke's hospital unconscious and in a critical condition.

Although Mrs. Tyler had been missing since the fire occurred, no definite word concerning her was available until Wednesday night when she was identified by Hadsell.

Had Wintered in Texas

The Tylers had returned to Niles only 10 days ago after spending the winter at Waxahachie, Texas, where the Tyler company has a plant, in addition to the two in Niles and another in Cobleskill, N.Y.

They had intended to stay this summer at their farm home west of Bertrand and the son, Michael, was to have gone shortly to Camp Tesebo, at Pentwater, Mich. for summer camping with several other Niles youths.

The family has been prominently identified with business, social and civic activities in the community since the company moved to Niles from Muskegon Heights in 1932.

Born in Niles July 13, 1934, Michael was their only child and attended school at the Dutch Corners rural school near the family home. During the past year he has been in school in Waxahachie.

Mrs. Tyler was the daughter of Vernon and Rosa Witt, who formerly lived at Bowling Green, Ky. She was married to Jerry Tyler on Feb. 11, 1926.

Active Socially

Since being in Niles she has been active in local Republican circles, have been a president of the Niles Women's Republican club and was also a past president of the Ladies' Reading Club.

Besides her husband, Mrs. Tyler is survived by her mother, in Fort Lauderdale; a sister, Mrs. George English, Jr. of the same city; and a brother, Norman Witt, of Hempstead, Long Island.

Mr. Tyler is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Leon L. Tyler, of Niles, who recently returned home from Florida after spending the winter there.

Served as Alderman

He served for nearly three years on the Niles city council from the second ward, beginning in 1934, resigned from the post in Dec. 1936, after having been reelected for a two-year term in April of that year.

Organizing the Tyler Sales Fixture company in 1927 with three employes, the company started a vigorous growth shortly after moving to Niles in 1932 and which has continued up to the present time.

Engaging in commercial refrigeration the company furnished a large amount of their products to the navy and more recently has expanded the line to include home and commercial "deep freeze" units.

In addition to the plant on North Front street, the company has a new modern factory and office building on Lake street, a plant in Waxahachie, where commercial refrigerators are produced, and a subsidiary in Cobleskill, the Harger Refrigerator Corporation, which was acquired in Nov. 1944.

Politically Prominent

Active in Republican politics, Mr. Tyler is director of Fourth district activities for the party and was a candidate for Michigan national committeeman in 1944 after the overthrow of Frank D. McKay in which he participated at the state convention of that year.

A member of the Niles draft board since it was first organized he is also a trustee of Alma college, a member of the state committee of the YMCA; and a former member of the aviation advisory committee working in cooperation with the State Planning Commission and the Michigan Board of Aeronautics, having been appointed to that body by Gov. Harry Kelly.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Tyler were members of the First Presbyterian church of Niles.

Tentative funeral arrangements have been made for Monday. Mrs. Tyler's mother and sister are expected to arrive in Niles Friday night and her brother will probably arrive here Saturday night or Sunday morning.

Minnie S. Tyler
Feb. 2, 1873-Oct. 8, 1966

Niles Daily Star, Monday, October 10, 1966, page 1, col 1-3, microfilm Niles District Library

Mrs. Minnie S. Tyler, Widow of Leon, Dies

Mrs. Minnie S. Tyler, 93, of 701 Topinabee Road, died at 3:30 p.m., Saturday at the Dor-A-Lin Nursing Home.

She was the widow of Dr. Leon L. Tyler, educator-industrialist, who died Jan. 18, 1965, at the age of 95. Survivors include a son, Robert L. Tyler Sr., president and general manager, Tyler Refrigeration Division of Clark Equipment Co.

Their other son, Jerry, founded the Tyler firm in 1927 as a store fixture manufacturer in the basement of their Muskegon Heights home.

Minnie Louisa Sturdevant was born Feb. 2, 1873, in Hillsdale county. She grew up on a farm her father had purchased with his army pay from the Civil War.

* * *

AFTER HER father died in 1891, she completed a three-year course in two years at Michigan State Teachers College, Ypsilanti. Her first job was a $50-a-month assignment in northern Michigan.
On Thanksgiving, 1896, she married the Minnesota-born Leon Tyler, who earned his law degree from the University of Michigan in 1900.
In 1901, they accepted posts at Quaker-founded Fairmount Academy; Leon as the $1,000-a-year principal and his wife as a $500-a-year teacher.

* * *

AFTER FOUR years at the Indiana school, they took a leave of absence to earn degrees at Earlham College in Indiana. After 1906 graduation, they returned for another year at Fairmont.
In 1907, the left the academy when Tyler was named superintendent of Three Rivers Schools. He went on to superintendency post at Traverse City and Muskegon Heights.
As a memorial to their eldest son, who died with his wife and 11-year-old son in a 1946 hotel fire, the Tylers presented Alma College with the Jerry Tyler Student Center in 1963.
At the time of Jerry's death he had been a trustee of the college where his father had been a professor from 1928 to 1936.
The 1964 Earlham College homecoming was highlighted by the dedication of a new social science center, Tyler Hall, named after Mr. and Mrs. Tyler.

* * *

SURVIVING IN addition to Robert Sr., are three grandsons and nine great grandchildren.
Friends may call after 7 p.m. today at the Pifer Funeral Home.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday a the First Presbyterian Church, with the Rev. John MacLachlan officiating. Burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery.
Mrs. Tyler was a member of the Presbyterian Church, Daughters of American Revolution and Niles Historical Society.