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The Man at the Top of the Food Chain: Dave Thomas is Born

Article Overview: Dave Thomas starred in 652 commercials for Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers, more than any other person in television history. But, he wasn’t just that friendly face you saw on TV with his white shirts and red ties; Thomas built his multi-billion dollar fast-food restaurant chain from the ground up, earning him a reputation as one of the most successful and loved entrepreneurs in American history.

The Man at the Top of the Food Chain: Dave Thomas is Born

Dave Thomas starred in 652 commercials for Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers, more than any other person in television history. But, he wasn’t just that friendly face you saw on TV with his white shirts and red ties; Thomas built his multi-billion dollar fast-food restaurant chain from the ground up, earning him a reputation as one of the most successful and loved entrepreneurs in American history.

Born on July 2, 1932 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Rex David Thomas was born out of wedlock and quickly given up for adoption. He would never know or meet his birth parents. Rex and Auleva Thomas, a young couple from Michigan, adopted him at six weeks old. When Thomas was five years old, Auleva died from rheumatic fever. Thomas’ father, a construction worker who would marry three more times, was left to care for his son alone. In search of work, the family spent Thomas’ early years moving from state to state.

Despite the loneliness, Thomas found comfort in the restaurants where he and his father would often dine, which showed him what family life was supposed to be like. Thomas also found comfort in his grandmother Minnie Sinclair, with whom he would spend his summers in Michigan. It was Sinclair whom Thomas would credit with teaching him life’s most important lessons. “The days I spent with my Grandmother Minnie Sinclair were the best times of my childhood, and she was the greatest influence in my young life,” recalled Thomas. “She knew what she wanted and went after it…the greatest lesson she taught me: Don’t cut corners on quality.”

When Thomas was 12 years old, he got his first job working as a counterman at a Knoxville restaurant. Three years later, he moved to Ft. Wayne, Indiana to work at the Hobby House Restaurant and, in what he would later claim to be the greatest mistake of his life, he dropped out of high school. He started working full-time as a busboy, then he worked the fountain and then on to the front of the kitchen. His father decided to move yet again, but Thomas chose to remain behind. At 15 years old, Thomas was living by himself at the YMCA and working full-time.

After three years of working at the Hobby House, Thomas joined the army. By volunteering instead of waiting for the draft for the Korean War, Thomas was able to choose his assignment. He asked to be placed in the Cook and Bakers School in Georgia. He was soon sent to Germany where he was in charge of feeding over 2,000 soldiers each day. In 1953, Thomas was honorably discharged as a staff sergeant.

Thomas returned to work at the Hobby House, where he would soon meet Colonel Harland Sanders, founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken. In 1962, against the advice of the Colonel, the Hobby House owner Phil Clauss purchased four KFC restaurants that were failing in Columbus, Ohio and assigned Thomas to the task of saving them. Thomas began reforming its menu and marketing strategy and in just four years, he had turned them into multi-million dollar operations.

With the successful experience of running someone else’s restaurant behind him, Thomas decided that it was time to finally realize his own dreams.

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Article Tags: birth parents, busboy, construction worker, counterman, dave thomas, david thomas, fast food restaurant, fast food restaurant chain, first job, ft wayne indiana, greatest mistake, man at the top, rheumatic fever, television history, times of my childhood, top of the food chain, wedlock, wendys old fashioned hamburgers, white shirts, young couple



Related Forum Posts
Categorizing the Famous Entrepreneur Profiles? - By the way Evan, what do you think about my idea to categorize your list of Famous Entrepreneur Profiles by industry rather than by alphabetical order? For instance, if I was a small business owner looking to enter the food industry, I might want to look for inspiration from famous entrepreneurs in a related field (like profiles on Dave Thomas, Harland Sanders, Debbi Fields, etc...). It just seems a bit time consuming having to run down the long list of names you have on the "Features" page. Thanks
The Value of Mentoring - Successful mentor pairings (in case there was any doubt as to the value of mentoring): 1. André Ouellet (President, Canada Post) mentor to Mark Whalen (Urban Organics and winner, Young Entrepreneur Award) 2. Marc Lefrançois (President, Via Rail Canada) mentor to Jeffrey Campbell (Core Networks, Inc. and winner, Young Entrepreneur Award) 3. Donald Kendall (former CEO of PepsiCo) mentor to John Scully (former CEO of Apple) 4. Harland Sanders (the Colonel) mentor to Dave Thomas (founder of Wendy's) 5. Stuart Friend (KMart manager) mentor to Wayne Sales (CEO of Canadian Tire) 6. Jim Rohn (author, motivational speaker) mentor to Anthony Robbins (author, motivational speaker) 7. Robert Patterson (CEO, National Cash Register) mentor to Thomas Watson (founder of IBM) 8. Henri-Paul Rosseau (President, Laurentian Bank of Canada) mentor to isabel Rodriquez and Yves Besner (i4design and winners, Young Entrepreneur Award)
Dropping out of school - I remember Dave Thomas, a man who dropped out of high school to found Wendys and turned into a millionaire, saying to people who pointed to this fact.... "Just think what I'd've been able to do if I HAD gone to college." In other words he was thinking he could've been even better if he'd gotten that extra education. Although in this day and age where young guys - and gals - with computer smarts can provide an invaluable service at a young age... they might not need to go to college to learn how to do what they already [i:ckavbg5w]know [/i:ckavbg5w]how to do... but do they have the business knowledge to run the [i:ckavbg5w]business [/i:ckavbg5w]end of their business? Hiring people, doing accounting, making sure your accountant isn't diddling you, etc. etc. Although it's not necessary to go to college to get those skills - a votech will do.... some education in those areas is necessary, I would think.
Re: How did we Live before Electricity - Ben Franklin and Thomas Edison - USA heros!
Re: Search Engine Optimization - Hi Thomas, So what would you recommend? Hiring an SEO expert or simply trying your hand at doing it yourself?


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