Dave Thomas

Dave Thomas

Founder of Wendy's, which he opened at 257 East Broad Street in downtown Columbus on 15 November 1969, and of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.

Born July 2, 1932, Atlantic City, New Jersey
Died January 8, 2002, his home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

John Mathew Smith & www.celebrity-photos.com from Laurel Maryland, USA / CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

Born: July 2, 1932, Atlantic City, New Jersey source
Died: January 8, 2002, his home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida source
Buried: Union Cemetery, Columbus (Mausoleum Chapel B, Lot 1B, Space 1) (Franklin County) source
Also known as: Dave Thomas, R. David Thomas
Education: Coconut Creek High School, Coconut Creek, FL, 1993, GED
Known as: Business
Organizations: Wendy's

Life story

Dave Thomas was born in Atlantic City and adopted as a baby. He grew up partly near Kalamazoo, Michigan, started working in restaurants at 12 and left high school to work full time in Fort Wayne, Indiana, at 15.

He served in the Army in the Korean War era, finishing as a staff sergeant, then worked with Colonel Harland Sanders, helping turn around Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises in Columbus, Ohio. He sold his share back to Sanders in 1968.

He opened the first Wendy's on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, naming it after his daughter Melinda Lou's nickname. He later appeared in more than 800 commercials.

He started the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption and earned his GED in 1993. He died in Florida in 2002 and is buried in Union Cemetery in Columbus.

Ohio ties

Columbus (mid-1960s-2002)
turned around four Columbus KFC stores, then founded Wendy's downtown in 1969 and ran it from there Franklin County · source
Columbus (257 East Broad Street) (1969-2007)
first Wendy's restaurant, which also housed the company's corporate headquarters Franklin County · source
Upper Arlington (1979-1982)
one of nine people who conceived the Wellington School, opened in 1982 Franklin County · source
Dublin (1992-present)
Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption (4900 Tuttle Crossing Boulevard) and, from 2006, Wendy's headquarters at 1 Dave Thomas Boulevard Franklin County · source
Union Cemetery, Columbus (2002)
burial Franklin County · source

Timeline

1932 Born on 2 July in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and adopted as an infant by Rex and Auleva Thomas. source
1944 At 12 took his first job, as a counterman at the Regas Restaurant in Knoxville, Tennessee. source
1947 By 15 was working at Phil Clauss's Hobby House Restaurant in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and dropped out of high school to work there full time. source
1950 Volunteered for the U.S. Army at 18, trained at the Cook's and Baker's School at Fort Lee, and served as a mess sergeant in West Germany until 1953. source
1960s Was sent by the Clauss family to Columbus to turn around four failing Kentucky Fried Chicken stores; he cut the menus to fried chicken and grew them to eight. source
1968 Sold his share in the Columbus KFC franchises back for more than $1.5 million. source
1969 Opened the first Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers restaurant on Saturday, 15 November, at 257 East Broad Street in downtown Columbus. source
1975 Writing on 23 July from Wendy's International offices at 2066 West Henderson Road, Columbus, to White House aide James Cannon, he reported that Wendy's had just opened its 154th store, had 250 open or under construction, and was starting in the Washington and Baltimore areas. source
1978 Founded the Sisters Chicken and Biscuits chain. source
1979 Received the Horatio Alger Award. source
1982 Stepped back from day-to-day operations at Wendy's (returning in 1985); the Wellington School, which he helped found, opened in Upper Arlington with 137 students. source
1989 Became Wendy's television spokesman, going on to appear in more than 800 commercials through 2002. source
1990 Accepted President George H. W. Bush's invitation to be spokesman for a national adoption awareness campaign. source
1992 Established the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption on 31 July. source
1993 Earned his GED. source
2002 Died of cancer at his home in Fort Lauderdale on 8 January and was buried in Union Cemetery, Columbus; more than 6,000 Wendy's were then operating in North America. source
2003 Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously. source
2004 His foundation launched the Wendy's Wonderful Kids adoption program in seven pilot cities. source
2006 Wendy's moved its headquarters to 1 Dave Thomas Boulevard, Dublin, on 29 January. source
2007 The original Wendy's on East Broad Street closed on 2 March after 38 years, because of falling sales. source
2010 The Catholic Foundation unveiled the renovated former first-Wendy's building on 30 April. source
2021 The Museum of Catholic Art and History reopened in the former first-Wendy's building in November. source

What Dave is known for

Founded Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers, Columbus, 1969-11-15
Wendy's, 1969
Franchising for Dummies (1999, co-author)
Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption

Stories

Saving four chicken stores in Columbus

Phil Clauss, who owned the Fort Wayne Hobby House where Thomas had worked since he was 15, at first turned down Colonel Harland Sanders but later became a Kentucky Fried Chicken franchisee with stores around the Midwest. Thomas worked with Sanders on improvements, urging a smaller menu built around one signature dish and getting the Colonel to appear in his own commercials. In the mid-1960s the Clauss family sent Thomas to Columbus to turn around four failing KFC stores. By 1968 he had sold his share back for more than $1.5 million, which paid for his next venture. After a short stint with the investors behind Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips, he opened his own hamburger restaurant.

Source

Opening day on East Broad Street

The first Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers opened on Saturday, 15 November 1969, at 257 East Broad Street in downtown Columbus. Thomas named it for his eight-year-old daughter, Melinda, nicknamed Wendy, who also posed for the smiling girl on the sign and logo. Its square hamburgers were cooked fresh to order and cost more than the competition's, but the restaurant was busy enough to turn a profit by the end of the year.

Source

From car dealership to Catholic museum

The building at 257 East Broad Street was put up for the Bill Kay Oldsmobile dealership and later housed Tommy Henrich's Steak House before it became the first Wendy's, which also had the company's corporate offices there. After the restaurant closed, the Catholic Foundation of Columbus owned the building before the Diocese of Columbus acquired it. In November 2021 it reopened as the Museum of Catholic Art and History, and some of the car-dealership decor can still be seen inside.

Source

An adopted child's foundation

Thomas, adopted as a baby, turned his own story into a cause. In 1990 he accepted President George H. W. Bush's invitation to be spokesman for a national adoption awareness campaign, and on 31 July 1992 he established the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. After his death in 2002 the foundation launched its Wendy's Wonderful Kids program in 2004 in seven pilot cities.

Source

Inventions and firsts

All Ohio inventions and firsts

Wendy's (1969)

Honors and things named for them

Horatio Alger Award, 1979
Golden Plate Award, 1980
Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame, 1999
Presidential Medal of Freedom, 2003 (posthumous)

Named for Dave Thomas

Dave Thomas Boulevard (Wendy's headquarters, 1 Dave Thomas Blvd.) (Dublin, Franklin County) source
Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption (Dublin, Franklin County) source
Dave Thomas Education Center (GED classes) (Coconut Creek, Florida) source
Dave Thomas Circle (informal name) (Washington, D.C.) source

Family

wife: Lorraine Thomas
daughter: Melinda Lou (Wendy) Thomas
mentor: Harland Sanders

Sites to know

Homes, graves, markers, museums and monuments; the numbered ones are on the map.

1 Site of the first Wendy's, 257 East Broad Street (now the Museum of Catholic Art and History)
Columbus Franklin County · source
2 Ohio historical marker 104-25, Site of First Wendy's Restaurant
East Broad Street, Columbus Franklin County · source
3 Dave Thomas grave, Union Cemetery mausoleum (Chapel B, Lot 1B)
Columbus Franklin County · source
4 Statue of Dave Thomas at Wendy's flagship restaurant
Dublin Franklin County · source
5 The Wellington School, which he helped found
3650 Reed Road, Upper Arlington Franklin County · source

Places in Ohio to see

Site of First Wendy's marker (marker)
Columbus, Franklin County ZIP 43215 (approximate) · Columbus · Franklin County · official page
Union Cemetery (grave)
3349 Olentangy River Rd, Columbus, Franklin County ZIP 43202 · Columbus · Franklin County · official page

Ohio places

Where Dave Thomas was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.

Worked: Columbus, Franklin County (257 E Broad St) ZIP 43215 · Columbus · Franklin County
Buried: Columbus (Union Cemetery), Franklin County ZIP 43215 · Columbus · Franklin County

Myths and corrections

Things often said about Dave Thomas, and what the record shows.

Often said Dave Thomas was an Ohio native.

The record He was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and grew up in Michigan, Tennessee and Indiana. He came to Columbus in the mid-1960s, in his thirties, to run four KFC franchises, and made it his home base from then on. source

Often said Wendy's square hamburger patty was an original Wendy's idea.

The record Thomas based his burgers on those of Kewpee Hamburgers in Kalamazoo, Michigan, the town where he had spent part of his childhood. The square patty stuck out past the round bun to show more meat, and more square patties fit on a grill. source

Documents

Primary records: patents, letters, court and government files, nominations and old county histories, each at the archive that holds it.

Letter from R. David Thomas, chairman of Wendy's International, to James Cannon, Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs, 23 July 1975 (Gerald R. Ford Library, NARA 30805995) 1975, National Archives, Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
"Dave Thomas Foundation" file, Nicole Rabner's files, Records of the First Lady's Office (Clinton Administration), NARA 24822537 1990s, National Archives, William J. Clinton Presidential Library

Pictures

Free to use with the credit shown. Select a picture for the original and its license.

Catholic Foundation building. "Photograph featuring renovation of the building that once was home to the origi...
No known restrictions
A statue of Dave Thomas at Wendy's Flagship Restaurant
Deathpallie325 / CC BY 4.0
Wash D.C. 1999
John Mathew Smith & www.celebrity-photos.com from Laurel Maryland, USA / CC BY-SA 2.0
The historical marker for the first Wendy's restaurant on E. Broad Street in downtown Columbus, Ohio.
Farragutful / CC BY-SA 4.0
The historical marker for the first Wendy's restaurant on E. Broad Street in downtown Columbus, Ohio.
Farragutful / CC BY-SA 4.0
Public domain
Dave Thomas Circle in the L'enfant plan
Public domain
Detail of an 1887 copy of the 1791 L'Enfant Plan, showing the city's Northeast quadrant. The planned streets e...
Public domain
Public domain
View from the southeast of Washington, D.C.'s "Dave Thomas Circle," a Wendy's restaurant located at First St, ...
airbus777 / CC BY 2.0