Burger King franchise owner and Columbus servant leader Marvin Schuster dies

Mark Rice
·2 min read
2

Marvin Schuster, considered one of the most significant servant leaders in Columbus, has died.

Schuster, whose family business, Schuster Enterprises, was founded in 1967 and owns and operates more than 60 Burger King restaurants in Georgia and Alabama, died Sunday, according to Striffler-Hamby Mortuary. He was 86.

The cause and location of Schuster’s death wasn’t available before publication.

Visitation will be Oct. 4, starting at 9:30 a.m., in Edgewood Baptist Church, followed by the funeral service at 11 a.m. Private interment will follow at Parkhill Cemetery, according to his obituary.

In 2014, Schuster and his wife, Ruth, were honored with the Sue Marie and Bill Turner Servant Leadership Award, presented by the Pastoral Institute to an extraordinary local couple making an extraordinarily positive impact in the community.

Meet him at office behind Ristawart. For profile of owner of local B.King Franchise. Need 3 different shots. Get him in Restaurant eating one outside with Burger king sign and try one in office.
Meet him at office behind Ristawart. For profile of owner of local B.King Franchise. Need 3 different shots. Get him in Restaurant eating one outside with Burger king sign and try one in office.

The United Way and Meals on Wheels are among the charitable organizations they supported in the Chattahoochee Valley.

Ron King, retired CEO and executive director of the Pastoral Institute, described Schuster as one of the “Mr. Anonymous” benefactors in the Chattahoochee Valley, making large donations to projects but not having their name on it.

“Columbus talks about being a public-private partnership community in a way that not many communities are, and Marvin Schuster is one of the reasons we have that unique relationship of public-private philanthropy that’s unlike, I think, any other community in Georgia, maybe even the Southeast,” King, who led the Pastoral Institute while Schuster was on the board, told the Ledger-Enquirer.

Schuster also was a leader in his church, where he served as a deacon and a Sunday school teacher, King said, and supported Christian charities.

Another part of Schuster’s legacy, King said, is having children and grandchildren who also strive to serve others because a community is only as strong as its weakest link.

“He never thought he would have the opportunity to be as successful a businessman as he was, and he wanted to give back and make a difference, to leave the world better than he found it,” King said, “and he certainly did that in Columbus, Georgia.”