Paul Tyler, 79, whose work in the theater industry grew from replacing light bulbs on marquees to cofounding a stage lighting company, died Saturday, March 18, of complications from Parkinson’s disease in Good Samaritan Nursing Home, Hot Springs Village, Ark. Mr. Tyler followed his father and brother into the theater industry. When he was 17 or 18 years old, he used to replace light bulbs on theater marquees for the White Way Sign Co., said his daughter, Janel Becker. He also worked with his father on vaudeville acts before they teamed up with a third partner in 1947 to start a small theatrical lighting business, Grand Stage Lighting and Appliance Co. Operating out of rented garages on North Clark Street, they supplied rental lighting equipment to the professional theater market and local high schools and colleges. They eventually dropped the appliance part of the business, and Mr. Tyler added a manufacturing company, Lighting Equipment Co., so he could respond quickly to market needs. He sold the manufacturing unit in the 1960s so he could concentrate on sales and rentals. Today the business is known as Grand Stage Co. and has offices in St. Louis and Detroit as well as Chicago, his daughter said. In the 1970s and 1980s he was head of the armory department at the Lyric Opera. “He just loved being back stage and being part of theater,” his daughter said. Mr. Tyler also enjoyed attending performances, and in his travels across six continents he visited opera houses in Europe and China, his daughter said. “As any good backstage person does, he affected a lot of lives without people being aware of how he affected them and how much smoother he made everything run,” his daughter added. Other survivors include his wife, Ruth; a son, Robert; and three grandchildren. A memorial service was held Tuesday in Arkansas.
