DAVID NICHOLS SCOULAR

David Scoular, an architect committed to the Houston community and civic endeavors, lover of the outdoors, and friend to many, died in Houston early Sunday, November 22, after battling cancer for two years. Scoular was born in Beatrice, Nebraska, on January 3, 1942, and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, where he graduated from the Pembroke Hill School. He attended Colgate University and received graduate degrees in architecture from both Washington University in St. Louis and Columbia University in New York. While at Washington University, he met and married his wife and lifelong companion, Charring Connett Scoular. Scoular moved his family to Houston in 1972 to join the architectural firm of CRS and became Vice President for Health Facilities. He was later recruited to Baylor College of Medicine, where he served as Director of Planning for 25 years. As part of his arrangement with Baylor, he maintained a private consulting practice, Scoular Associates, through which he designed medical facilities and research laboratories domestically and overseas, often in association with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. During the last decade of his life, he was President and Chairman of the Kelsey Research Foundation, a grant- making institution supporting medical research focused on improving patient health outcomes. He was a former Houston Ballet Board President; and he also served on the boards of the The Harris County Hospital District Foundation, The San Jacinto Museum of History, The Chinquapin School, Planned Parenthood of Houston, and The Contemporary Arts Museum. Scoular wore a bow-tie well, listened to classical music, and was an enthusiastic bird-hunter, fisherman, soccer coach, sailor, hiker, bocce player, traveler, and storyteller. He enjoyed the philosophical lunches and companionship shared during Friday gin rummy games. In his later years, he enjoyed amateur farming. He is survived by his loving wife, Charring, his sons, Max and William, and his brother, Robert Bruce. He wished to acknowledge his gratitude for a lifetime of friendship with the Kelsey Family, the friendship of Dr. Joseph Merrill, and the kindness of the team at MD Anderson. His memorial service is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. Wednesday, December 2, 2009, at Christ Church Cathedral in Houston.