Dave Thomas
Dave Thomas was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States on July 2nd, 1932 and is the Entrepreneur. At the age of 69, Dave Thomas biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
At 69 years old, Dave Thomas has this physical status:
Rex David Thomas (July 2, 1932 – January 8, 2002) was an American businessman and philanthropist.
Thomas was the founder and chief executive officer of Wendy's, a fast-food restaurant chain specializing in hamburgers.
He has also been known for appearing in over 800 commercial ads for the chain from 1989 to 2002, more than any other company founder in television history.
Early life
Rex David Thomas was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on July 2, 1932. Sam was his biological father's name, and Molly was his biological mother's name. Thomas was adopted between six weeks and six months by Rex and Auleva Thomas, and as an adult, became a well-known advocate for adoption, founding the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. Since his adoptive mother's death when he was five, his father moved around the country looking for jobs. Thomas spent some of his youth near Kalamazoo, Michigan, with his grandmother, Minnie Sinclair, who credited with teaching him the importance of service and treating others well and with respect, as well as lessons that aided him in his future career.
Thomas began working at Regas Restaurant, a fine dining establishment in downtown Knoxville, Tennessee, then lost it due to a dispute with his manager; decades later, Regas Restaurant installed a large autographed poster of Thomas just inside the restaurant, which stayed until the restaurant closed in 2010. He vowed never to miss another job. By 15, he was working at the Hobby House Restaurant in Fort Wayne, Indiana, working with his father. Thomas decided to stay in Fort Wayne after his father was going to work full time at the restaurant rather than moving out of high school. Thomas, who thought ending his education was the biggest mistake of his life, did not graduate from high school until 1993, when he received a GED.
He then became an education advocate and founded the Dave Thomas Education Center in Coconut Creek, Florida, which offers GED lessons to young adults.
Personal life
Dave Thomas was married to Lorraine for 47 years and raised his family with her in Upper Arlington, Ohio. Pam, Lori, and Molly, and Kenny's son, Kenny, were among Melinda's three more daughters, as well as Melinda. Despite Kenny's demise in 2013, Dave's children's children have continued to own and operate several Wendy's stores. In 1978, Thomas founded Sisters Chicken and Biscuits, a name he gave in honor of his three children.
Thomas had been suffering from a carcinoid neuroendocrine tumor for a decade before it metastasized to his liver. He died on January 8, 2002, in his home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at the age of 69. Thomas was buried in Columbus, Ohio, at Union Cemetery. More than 6,000 Wendy's restaurants were operating in North America at the time of his death.
Career
He volunteered for the US Army at age 18 rather than waiting for the draft, rather than waiting for the draft. Thomas, a food processor and service specialist, requested the Cook's and Baker's School at Fort Benning, Georgia. He was sent to West Germany as a mess sergeant and was in charge of the daily meals of 2,000 troops, with a rank of sergeant. Thomas returned to Fort Wayne and the Hobby House after being discharged in 1953.
Col. Harland Sanders, the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken, travelled to Fort Wayne in the hopes of finding restaurateurs with established businesses to whom he could offer KFC franchises. Thomas, the head cook at a restaurant, and the Clauss family turned down Sanders' invitation, but Sanders persevered and the Clauss family franchised their restaurant with KFC; they later owned several other KFC franchises in the Midwest; Thomas was employed by Sanders on several projects to increase KFC's income and brand it better known. Thomas suggested that KFC reduce the number of items on its menu and instead focus on a signature dish; he also suggested that KFC make commercials, which Sanders would personally attend. Thomas was sent by the Clauss family in the mid-1960s to help turn around four of their failing KFC stores in Columbus, Ohio.
Thomas had increased success in the four fried chicken restaurants by 1968 that he sold his part of them back to Sanders for more than $1.5 million. When Thomas first started Wendy's about a year ago, it would be highly useful.
Thomas became part of Arthur Treacher's family after being a regional director for Kentucky Fried Chicken. His time with the new restaurant was less than a year before he went on to find Wendy's.
Thomas debuted his first Wendy's in Columbus, Ohio, on November 15, 1969. This original restaurant survived until March 2, 2007, when it was closed due to lower sales. Thomas named the restaurant after his eight-year-old daughter Melinda Lou, whose nickname was "Wendy," referring to the child's inability to say her own name at a young age. Dave says that people branded his daughter "Wenda," according to Bio TV. Not Wendy, but Wenda. "I'm going to call it Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers." Thomas expressed regret for naming the franchise after his daughter's name, saying, "I should've just named it after myself, because it put a lot of pressure on [her]."
Thomas resigned from Wendy's day-to-day operations in 1982. However, by 1985, several company corporate decisions, including an uncomfortable new breakfast menu and a lack of brand recognition as a result of fizzled marketing campaigns, had prompted the company's new president to request Thomas back into a more active role with Wendy's. Thomas began to visit franchises, espousing his hardworking, so-called "moop-bucket attitude." In 1989, he played a key role as the brand's television spokesperson in a string of commercials. Thomas was not a natural actor, and his appearances were criticized as stiff and ineffective by advertising critics right away.
A decision was made by 1990, after Wendy's marketing company, Backer Spielvolgel Bates, tried to bring humor into the campaign, making it much more popular among test audiences. Wendy's eventually regained market recognition after octogenarian Clara Peller's hit song "Where's the beef?" was among octogenarian Clara Peller's most famous "Where's the beef?" 1984 was a republic in the United States.
Thomas became a household name thanks to his natural self-effacing style and his relaxed demeanor. According to a survey conducted by a company in the 1990s, a decade in which Thomas appeared in every Wendy's commercial that aired, 90 percent of Americans knew who Thomas was. After more than 800 customers, it was clear that Thomas played a significant role in Wendy's success as the third most popular burger restaurant in the United States.
Thomas appeared in Bionic Ever After?, a nostalgia TV film based on The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman, in 1994.
Thomas and a group of entrepreneurs founded and established The Wellington School in Upper Arlington, Ohio, in 1982. Ken Ackerman, Harry K. Gard, Robert Holland, Len Immke, George Minot, Dave Swaddling, Rex David Thomas, Jack Ruscilli, and Jeff Wilkins were among the entrepreneurs. They spent three years refining ideas, raising funds, finding a house, and recruiting teachers and students.
As the first co-ed independent school in the greater Columbus metropolitan area, the Wellington School welcomed 137 students and 19 workers. In 1989, the first graduating class was held with 32 students. In 2010, the new 76,000 square foot building was unveiled. The Little Jags preschool program for 3-year-olds began in 2012.
Dr. Jeff Terwin, the Head of School, is the school's Principal.