Dave Thomas

@Businessman, Timeline and Childhood

Dave Thomas was the founder of Wendy’s a fast food restaurant chain

Jul 2, 1932

Cancer CelebritiesNew JerseyPhilanthropistsPoorly EducatedAmericanBusiness PeopleRestaurateurs
Biography

Personal Details

  • Birthday: July 2, 1932
  • Died on: January 8, 2002
  • Nationality: American
  • Famous: Businessman, Philanthropists, Poorly Educated, Business People, Restaurateurs
  • City/State: New Jersey
  • Spouses: Lorraine Thomas (m. 1954–2002)
  • Known as: Dave

Dave Thomas born at

Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

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Birth Place

He tied the nuptial knot with Lorraine in 1956. The couple was blessed with five children, the youngest of whom was Melinda Lou, nicknamed Wendy on whom he later named the chain of restaurants.

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Personal Life

An adoptive child himself, he founded the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, which made some ground-breaking initiatives, providing benefits for people who adopted children. It was due to his increasing popularity that he was appointed as a national spokesman on adoptive issues by President George Bush.

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Personal Life

He underwent a quadruple bypass surgery in December 1996. Though he resumed his active role as brand promoter, in the early months of 2001, he began receiving kidney dialysis.

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Personal Life

Dave Thomas was born to a single woman in Atlantic City, New Jersey, who later gave him up for adoption. When he was six weeks of age, he was adopted by Rex and Auleva Thomas.

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Childhood & Early Life

Young Thomas’s adoptive mother expired when he was five years old. He was then raised up by his grandmother Minnie Sinclair in Michigan, while his father sought for work. It was his grandmother who inculcated in him the values of respect and reverence.

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Childhood & Early Life

He took to working at the age of 12 in a restaurant in Knoxville, Tennessee, The Regas. However, the job did not last long as he had a spat with his boss. Vowing never to lose a job again, he moved with his dad and took up various odd jobs, as a paperboy, golf caddy and at soda fountain counter in drugstore.

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Career

When he was 15, he started working part time at the Hobby House Restaurant owned by the Clauss family in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Meanwhile, he attained his formal education from a local high school.

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Career

When his family relocated from Fort Wayne, instead of choosing to go with them, he stayed back and switched to working full-time at the restaurant, dropping out from high school during his 10th grade.

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Career

In 1950, at the outbreak of the Korean War, he volunteered himself for the US Army. Since he already had a couple of years of experience in food production and service, he chose to serve in the same.

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Career

He was sent to Germany wherein he took up the post of a mess sergeant. He was responsible for the daily meals of 2000 soldiers. Within a span of time, he was upgraded to the rank of staff sergeant. In 1953, he was relieved of his services.

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Career

He was a Freemason at Sol. D. Bayless Lodge No. 359 Fort Wayne, Indiana, and a member of the Shriners. In 1995, he was conferred with the honorary 33rd degree.

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Awards & Achievements

In 1999, he was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame.

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Awards & Achievements

Additionally, he was also an honorary Kentucky colonel

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Awards & Achievements