One Minute Testimonial: Dave Thomas, Founder Of Wendy's

GENTLENESS - A One-Minute Testimonial Announcement
Faith Committee, Character Council of Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky

Contributed by Pam Elcik
Community Leader, Fairfield, OH
January 17, 2002

DAVE THOMAS, FOUNDER Of WENDY'S

Dave Thomas (1932- 2002) founded Wendy's in Columbus, Ohio in 1968, naming it after his daughter's nickname. He expected to have maybe three or four restaurants as places for his children to work. But in time the chain grew to be the world's third largest restaurant empire with over 6,000 restaurants. Central to this success was Dave's gentleness - his consideration and personal concern for others. He was a mentor to many hundreds of people he personally helped, and thousands who were inspired by his leadership. He was loved throughout the Wendy's family. And throughout the restaurant industry Dave was respected as an innovator, pioneer and gentleman. His vision for Wendy's was applauded for its simplicity and common sense. To many, Dave often seemed larger than life. He became Wendy's advertising spokesperson, filming over 800 commercials. In this role he earned a celebrity status, but it was a position he was never completely comfortable with. He always reminded folks that he was "just a hamburger cook."

In addition to the world of commerce, Dave's gentleness extended to the creation in 1992 of The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. The goal of the Foundation is to raise public awareness of adoption for the 134,000 foster children available for adoption, and help find homes for these children in our foster care system. Thousands of foster children now have "forever families" thanks to the work of Dave and the Foundation. Through his consideration and personal concern for others, Dave Thomas has demonstrated dramatically how the gentleness of just one person can increase the quality of life for many, many others!