[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 5 (Tuesday, January 29, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E55-E56]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          HONORING DAVE THOMAS

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. NICK J. RAHALL II

                            of west virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 29, 2002

  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, ``the man who really counts in the world is 
the doer,'' President Theodore Roosevelt once wrote, ``not the man who 
only talks or writes about how it ought to be done.'' Dave Thomas was 
the definition of a doer. He was one of the youngest soldiers to manage 
an Enlisted Men's Club for the U.S. Army, and his innate business 
acumen led to success after success, making him a millionaire by the 
time he turned thirty-five.
  But truly successful people do not hoard their earnings or ignore the 
pain of others. Dave Thomas believed in civic responsibility and 
eagerly involved himself in the communities he called home. In 
Columbus, Ohio, where he founded Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers in 
1969, Mr. Thomas supported financially and morally the Children's 
Hospital, Recreation Unlimited, and the Ohio State University Cancer 
Research Institute.
  I worked with Dave Thomas to further the mission of the St. Jude 
Children's Research Hospital, on whose Professional Advisory Board I 
have served since 1996. Located in Memphis, Tennessee, St. Jude was 
founded by Danny Thomas in 1962. It is one of the world's leading 
centers of research and treatment for life-threatening childhood 
illnesses, particularly cancer. Remarkably, no child pays for St. 
Jude's services. The American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities 
raise the funds to cover all costs of patient care.
  Dave Thomas served six productive years on the St. Jude's Boards of 
Directors and Governors, from 1978-81 and from 1994-97. Richard C. 
Shadyiac, Sr., St. Jude's National Executive Director, ``recalled him 
as a very close personal friend of Danny Thomas.'' Mr. Shadyiac went on 
to say that ``Mr. Thomas made major contributions and stock gifts to 
St. Jude's, especially in its early, formative years.''
  Most Americans know Dave Thomas from his television commercials. They 
embody his easy demeanor and engaging personality. Not

[[Page E56]]

many captains of industry would return to high school, as Dave Thomas 
did in 1993, to earn a diploma forty-five years after leaving school to 
work full time. Fewer still would have the grace and humor to attend 
the prom. Dave Thomas lived a life of purpose and action. He was 
devoted to his family, committed to his business, and endlessly 
generous with his time and wealth.

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