When I heard Wendy's founder R. David "Dave" Thomas died, I thought, "Gosh, he couldn't be that old." A bit of research proved me right: Dave was only 69 years old.
Dave is known to people around America and beyond as the founder of Wendy's restaurants. Many people, however, aren't aware that the original Wendy's Restaurant is located in Columbus, and Wendy's International is headquartered in Columbus. His life was often a hardship, a story of his evolution from adopted child to head of the billion dollar Wendy's hamburger kingdom. But Dave was truly a common man, an accidental celebrity. In his books and in interviews, Thomas talks of being approached by those who recognize him from television and say he must be someone famous. Dave says he replies, "I'm nobody, really. I just make hamburgers for a living."
Over one thousand people attended the funeral at Upper Arlington Lutheran Church for this guy who "just makes hamburgers;" thousands more lined up for over an hour at Wendy's International headquarters to pay their respects to Dave's closed casket and to his family. The Columbus Dispatch called Thomas "the most famous hamburger cook of all time." Dave died on Tuesday, January 8, 2002 after fighting cancer for many years.
Thomas talks of having lived many places--Atlantic City, Detroit, Fort Wayne, Knoxville among others--and worked quite a few jobs before starting his own restaurant here in Columbus. He also worked for Kentucky Fried Chicken and Arthur Treachers before his Wendy's career.
It turns out Columbus has been very lucky Dave settled in Columbus. In addition to the thousands of local jobs at Wendy's International headquarters and local restaurants, Dave and his wife Lorraine have given millions of dollars to Children's Hospital, the OSU Arthur James Cancer Hospital, the Center for Adoption Law at Capital University, the Ohio State Fair, local adoption and child welfare agencies, and more. Central Ohio is a better place thanks to Dave.
Dave has even touched my life by signing my adopted wife's copy of his book Dave's Way on her birthday in the photo above.
Most fascinating is that Thomas thought he would be lucky to have three or four restaurants in Columbus; the Columbus phone book lists 76 Wendy's today, with over 5000 Wendy's restaurants worldwide. This understated, "aw-shucks" style carried over from his real life to his books to his Wendy's television ads. That an average, adopted child who dropped out of high school could reach such a level of success should be an inspiration for anyone. Dave's life serves as an inspiring success story from a "down-to-earth, lovable guy."
Dave used his good fortune to help as many other people as he could. He once said that "if I can get just one child a home it would be better than selling a million hamburgers." Dave accomplished both many times over. Local agencies that provide help to children report that Dave would just "drop in" from time to time to see how he could assist them.
Many unwanted children have a home and a better life thanks to Dave. Dave's final home is Union Cemetery on Olentangy River Rd.
Most Central Ohio Wendy's put "Our founder. Our friend. We love you Dave" on their marquee. It is obvious Dave Thomas was loved by many from Central Ohio and beyond.
