I am so sad by this news...Dave reminded us of my Dad...a big bear of a guy, good natured and good hearted and loved the children..and my dad "adopted" kids, too.

He was truly one of those "angels on earth"

-- Anonymous, January 08, 2002

Answers

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,42443,00.html <>

Wendy's Founder Dave Thomas Dies at 69

AP Dave Thomas Tuesday, January 08, 2002

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Email this Article Dave Thomas, the smiling pitchman whose homespun TV ads built Wendy's Old-Fashioned Hamburgers into one of the world's most successful fast- food franchises, has died.

Thomas, who was 69, died at his home in Florida, the company said Tuesday.

The cause of death was not given. Thomas has been undergoing dialysis for a kidney problem since early 2001. Thomas had quadruple heart bypass surgery in December 1996.

Company officials were meeting at Wendy's headquarters in the suburb of Dublin and planned an announcement later Tuesday morning.

The founder and senior chairman of Wendy's International became a household name when he began pitching his burgers and fries in television commercials in 1989. The smiling Thomas, always wearing a white short-sleeved shirt and red tie, touted the virtues of fast- food in humorous ads, sometimes featuring stars such as bluesman B.B. King and soap opera queen Susan Lucci.

"As long as it works, I'll continue to do the commercials," Thomas said in a 1991 interview. "When it's not working any longer, then I'm history."

Adoption Advocate

But burgers were not his first love. Thomas, who was adopted as an infant, became a national advocate for adoption.

He created the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, a not-for-profit organization focused on raising public awareness of adoption. The profits from his books, Dave's Way and Well Done! go to the foundation.

He once testified before a congressional committee for a bill that would give a $5,000 tax credit to those who adopt children.

"I know firsthand how important it is for every child to have a home and loving family," he testified. "Without a family, I would not be where I am today."

Thomas, born July 2, 1932, was 12 when he got his first job -- delivering groceries in Knoxville, Tenn. He joined the restaurant business in the 1950s.

While working at a barbecue restaurant in Fort Wayne, Ind., he met KFC founder Col. Harland Sanders, who became a major influence in his life.

Thomas came to Columbus in 1962 to take over four failing KFC restaurants for his boss, who promised Thomas a 45 percent stake in them if he turned them around. Sanders sold the restaurants back to KFC for $1.5 million in 1968, making Thomas a millionaire at 35.

He opened his first Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers in Columbus a year later. He named the restaurant after his 8-year-old daughter Melinda Lou, nicknamed Wendy by her siblings.

The chain grew to 4,800 restaurants in the United States and 34 countries by 1996. That year, Wendy's acquired the 1,200-store, Canadian-based Tim Hortons chain of coffee and fresh-baked goods.

He tried to retire in 1982, but came back in 1989.

"They took the focus off the consumer," he said of the executives who took over the company.

In 1999 Thomas temporarily took charge of the company after the second death of its chief executive and president in less than four years. John Schuessler, formerly head of Wendy's U.S. operations, was appointed to those positions in 2000.

But it was the TV commercials that made Thomas famous. Industry analysts and company officials said the ads helped the company rebound from a difficult period in the mid-1980s when earnings sank.

"He's given Wendy's a corporate identity ... a down-homey type image. The lack of sophistication is a real benefit for the company," one financial analyst said in 1991.

In 1996, Thomas filmed his 500th commercial. The company staged a lookalike contest that attracted 1,600 entrants vying for the grand prize: a chance to appear in a commercial with Thomas.

Thomas, who told the story of his life in Dave's Way, told 2,500 Columbus public school seniors in 1993 -- the year he earned a high school equivalency certificate -- that his biggest mistake was not finishing high school.

"We have 4,000 restaurants today, but if I had gotten my high school diploma, we might have 8,000," he said.

Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

-- Anonymous, January 08, 2002

Radio says liver cancer.

Yes, I liked him too. Sort of a Marcus Welby throwback.

-- Anonymous, January 08, 2002

I remember one of Dave Thomas' TV ads. The name Iman (sp?) came up, the famous model.

Bit player, playing a Wendy's employee: Dave, you know Iman?!!

Dave, modestly: "When you're hot, you're hot."

-- Anonymous, January 08, 2002