Arthur Wheeler, Main Line developer

Arthur L. Wheeler, 88, a real estate developer and founder of a Main Line firm that became part of Prudential Fox Roach Inc., died yesterday at the medical center of Beaumont at Bryn Mawr, his final project.

As word spread that Mr. Wheeler was nearing his end, the janitor, nurses and many others who work at Beaumont stopped by, said his son, Arthur L. Wheeler Jr.

"He had an incredible ability to feel comfortable with people at every station in life," his son said.

Mr. Wheeler was "known for his sense of humor, which he used successfully in building relationships throughout his life," his son said.

After starting his real estate career at Binswanger Co. in Philadelphia, Mr. Wheeler in 1952 founded Wheeler-Williams Inc., a Main Line real estate brokerage.

A 1986 merger with Emlen & Co. formed Emlen Wheeler Co., and that firm eventually became part of Prudential Fox Roach, which calls itself the fourth-largest real estate services firm in the United States.

Mr. Wheeler's crowning professional achievement was the development in the 1980s of Beaumont at Bryn Mawr, a life-care retirement community on the 50-acre former estate of industrialist William L. Austin, president of the Baldwin Locomotive Works. Mr. Wheeler was among the first to move into the 200-unit Beaumont, which its residents own cooperatively.

Mr. Wheeler, who was born in Philadelphia, graduated from the Gilman School, a boarding school in Baltimore. He attended Princeton and Temple Universities.

A bout with tuberculosis kept Mr. Wheeler out of the armed forces during World War II. Instead, he worked at the proving ground in Aberdeen, Md. Later, he was a volunteer ambulance driver in northern Italy. He received a Purple Heart.

Besides his son, Mr. Wheeler is survived by his wife of 67 years, Carol B. Leisenring Wheeler; another son, Edward F.; daughters Leslie P. and Christine W. Patton; six granddaughters; five great-grandchildren; and a brother.

A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. Tuesday at the Church of the Redeemer, 230 Pennswood Rd, Bryn Mawr.

Memorial donations may be made to the Beaumont Fund in care of Beaumont at Bryn Mawr, 601 N. Ithan Ave., Bryn Mawr, Pa. 19010.