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The Dallas real estate community lost an industry icon with the death Saturday of Henry S. Miller Jr.

Miller Jr., who was 95, greatly expanded the real estate company his father started in 1914. He joined Henry S. Miller Co. in 1946, became chairman and CEO in 1960, and is known for building the firm's expertise in brokerage, property management, as well as the development of shopping centers and office buildings.

Under Miller Jr.’s leadership, the Henry S. Miller Co. helped launch the careers of many notable real estate professionals who went on to form their own companies, including Roger Staubach, Herb Weitzman and Wayne Swearingen.

Henry S. Miller III said Sunday that his father pioneered the concept of specialization of services in different areas of commercial real estate.

“Before, it was all generalists,” Miller III said. “We were the first real estate company to break it up into divisions,” such as retail, multifamily, industrial, office and investment properties.

“We contended that that was the best way for people to really become expert in their fields,” Miller III said.

Other Henry S. Miller Co. innovations included establishing pension and profit-sharing trusts for employees and using psychological assessments for prospective employees, as well as formulizing training for new brokers, according to “The Book,” profiles of Dallas real estate pioneers published in 2008 by the North Texas Commercial Association of Realtors.

Miller III said his father’s business success began with his philosophy of treating everybody equally.

“He was so humble,” Miller III said. “He couldn’t have done all the things that he did if he had an ego that got in the way. He never claimed credit for anything, so it was easy for other people to work with him. They didn’t feel like somebody else was competing with them.”

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