SCHULLER, Brice W.
passed away on January 25, 2017 in Tucson, Arizona. Born January 19, 1931, he had just celebrated his 86th birthday. His death was due to a stroke and renal failure, however he had been in poor health for several years. Brice was born in El Paso, grew up in Montana, and attended the University of Arizona, graduating with a degree in art in 1955. In college, he was editor of the student humor magazine, Kittycat, and a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity. He served in the U.S. Army in Korea, during that war. He began his career in advertising as a sales rep for Newsweek magazine in Europe. In the early 1960s, he moved to New York and, in 1964, became an account representative at Carl Ally Inc., one of the "creative" agencies that inspired the TV series "Mad Men." At Ally he managed the account of Scandinavian Airlines. In the early 1970s, he moved to San Francisco where he founded an advertising agency, Schuller, Briggs and Mitchell, in 1976. He was a gifted copywriter and, as an agency principal, he was more comfortable behind a typewriter than an executive desk. He soon became the agency's chief strategist and writer. The agency was just up the road from what became known as Silicon Valley. It was among the early advertising firms that worked in the then infant technology industry, centered on the peninsula south of San Francisco. The agency soon became a leading technology specialist; it was one of Microsoft's first ad agencies, and represented many other rapidly growing tech companies. In 1981, Schuller Briggs & Mitchell was acquired by Doyle Dane Bernbach, a leading global agency, and Brice retired to Tucson. There, he connected with old friends and became a benefactor of University of Arizona where he established an engineering scholarship fund. He was a motoring enthusiast all his life. In San Francisco, he was a founding member of the Montgomery Street Motorcycle Club, a group of bike enthusiasts from advertising and finance who rode their motorcycles wearing suits and ties. He loved vintage British cars and owned two at the time of his death. He was a member of the Tucson British Car Register. Brice Schuller is survived by his sisters, Sandra Davidson of Ruidoso, NM, and Lorraine Foster of Avon, CT, as well as countless friends worldwide who will miss him. No Memorial Service will be held. Donations in his memory may be made to the Brice W. Schuller Scholarship Award in Electrical and Computer Engineering c/o Community Foundation for Southern Arizona.