Lonnie Stabler

Lonnie Dean Stabler (December 11, 1945 – December 1, 2013) was from 1995 to 2001 the mayor of Bryan, a city of 76,000 population located in east central Texas. From 1991 to 1995, he was a member of the Bryan City Council.^[1]Mayor and city council positions in Texas are nonpartisan.

For more than four decades, he owned and operated Stabler Sign Company in Bryan. For thirty-five years, he was a member of the interest group, the Texas Sign Association, and from 1994 to 1995, he served as the association president.^[2]

Background

Stabler was born in Bryan to the former Mable Louise Davenport (1912-2009) and John Calvin Stabler, Sr., who died in 1950, when Lonnie was four years of age. The Stablers also had an older son, Jay Calvin Stabler, Jr. In 1951, Mable married Anthony "Tony" Patranella, Sr., by whom she bore a third son, Anthony Patranella, Jr.^[3]In 1964, Lonnie Stabler graduated from Stephen F. Austin High School, since Bryan High School. He attended the college preparatory Allen Academy in Bryan, the University of Houston,^{[4] [4]} and graduated in 1969 from Texas A&M University in College Station.^[5]

In addition to operating his sign company, Stabler was a residential and commercial remodeler in Bryan.^[6]

Stabler was a founding member of the Westminster Presbyterian Church, an affiliate of the conservative Presbyterian Church in America denomination. Westminster opened in Bryan in January 1979.^[4][7]

Political life

Mayor Stabler was involved in the municipal purchase of the historic LaSalle Hotel in downtown Bryan, which was subsequently sold in 2013. He pushed for the donation of the former city hall building to the Bryan Children's Museum.^[8] Stabler also worked to acquire the old federal building in Bryan. He was active in the renovation of the Carnegie Library in Bryan and the renaming of Earl Rudder Freeway in honor of former TAMU president James Earl Rudder.^[4] Stabler worked to establish the Traditions Private Golf and Country Club adjacent to TAMU and designed by Jack Nicklaus.^[9]

Stabler was also active in the development of the master plan for downtown Bryan. While Stabler was a city council member, Bryan changed its municipal charter to provide for the election of five council members from single-member districts.^[10] Stabler was instrumental too in the development of the Austin's Colony residential complex in Bryan. He served and at times chaired many community boards, including the Metropolitan Planning Organization (1995-200), Brazos County Health Department (1991-1995), Brazos Valley Solid Waste Management Agency (1997-2001), and the Brazos Animal Shelter (1996-2001).^[11] From 1996-1999 and again, after he had left office, from 2001-2005, Stabler was a member of the Texas Municipal Power Agency Board. From 2001 to 2006, he served on the Bryan Texas Utilities Board. Stabler was a member of the advisory board of Blinn College, which has a large branch community college campus in Bryan.^[4]

From 2005-2011, he was a member of the Bryan Board of Sign Control and Appeals. He was also a member of the electrical sign task force of the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.^[4]In 2009, he was named "sign advocate" by the Texas Sign Association.^[12]In 2013, Stabler was involved with Bill 1352 in the Texas House of Representatives and Bill 893 in the Texas Senate, which establish procedures for the electrical licensing of signs.^[13]

Death and legacy

Stabler died of cancer in Bryan ten days shy of his sixty-eighth birthday.^[10]

Stabler was first married in 1966 to the former Karla Jean Duckett (born 1948) of College Station, the mother of his children, Randall D. Stabler and wife Jennifer of Round Rock, Texas, Staci D. Stabler Groff and husband David of College Station, and Terri J. Stabler of Allen, Texas. From his second and surviving wife, Leona Kay Stabler, the executive director of the Texas Sign Association,^[12]he acquired step-children, Thomas B. Richards and wife Angie, Lance E. Richards and wife Robyn, and Erin J. Richards, all of Bryan.^[4]

Services were held at the large Central Baptist Church in Bryan. He is interred at Bryan City Cemetery.^[4]

Current Bryan Mayor Jason P. Bienksi referred to Stabler as "a true public servant [who] always put the betterment of the city before his own needs. He brought tremendous business acumen to the city council and was hugely instrumental in bringing about a renewed business interest in downtown Bryan in particular. He will be sorely missed. ...^[10]

The Bryan-College Station Eagle staff writer Beth Brown reflected on Stabler's legacy: "[More than] a decade removed from his last term [as mayor of Bryan], Stabler's fingerprints are still all over the city -- in the revitalized downtown, in the booming Traditions area, and even in the city council election process."^[14]

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