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The new CEO and president of Whataburger was Tom Dobson, the son of Harmon and Grace Dobson. I like to write, listen to music, and read about fashion. He was not afraid to tell people if they did not meet his standards.. I share with Whataburger employees how my brothers and I would have 35 cent Whataburgers from the original Ayers street store before going to the picture show. Please try again later. In 1953 , Joe Andrews received the first Whataburger franchise, and business was booming. She lived simply and seldom spent the Whataburger money, aside from the many charities to which she contributed. The Whataburger Jr. was added to the menu, as were jalapeos and onion rings. Unless you are experienced as an estate executor, you probably should hire an attorney. By the mid-60s, there were over 40 stores in fifteen Texas cities and four states. Oops, something didn't work. It has expanded in the Southwest United States with about 800 locations in ten states. August 10, 1950- I came to Corpus Wed. Paul finally opened Tuesday [August 8] $50 first day, $79 yesterday & $62 today. Leave them blank to get signed up. At 4:28 p.m, the plane took off, but, unfortunately, something went wrong. On June 23, 1950, the Texas Secretary of State office granted Dobson the trademark for Whataburger. Dobson then invested more time and more effort into developing the first Whatabuger.4, Eventually, on August 8, 1950, Dobson opened and sold his first Whataburger through the window of a little portable building. After all, kindness, compassion, and quality were principles Harmon and Grace worked to instill in their employees. Wikipedia. Private burial will be in Seaside Memorial Park. Its so interesting that he aimed to create a burger that would require hands to hold it. Yet, I find it insane that Dobson died so tragically and unexpectedly before he could see his fast food chain truly flourish and gain a big following from many Texans and others from different states. By 1960, Whataburger had 17 restaurants. New specialty items included the Whataburger Patty Melt and the Honey BBQ Chicken Strip Sandwich. Charities like cancer research, childrens education, child abuse prevention, and hunger are still dear to the companys heart. Harmon Archibald Dobson (October 8, 1913 - April 11, 1967) [1] was an American entrepreneur best known as one of the founders of the fast food chain Whataburger. Year should not be greater than current year. Following his success, Dobson began dabbling in oil and purchased a small well in Mountain Home, Arkansas. Oops, we were unable to send the email. Tragedy struck the Whataburger family in 1967 when a plane crash took the life of Harmon Dobson. After the Second World War ended, Harmon settled on buying used cars, which became profitable. On April 11, 1967, Dobson and an associate died in an airplane crash, and Dobson's widow, Grace, took control of the business. In 1952 Andrews, who lived in Alice, brought his family to eat at the Kingsville branch and was so impressed that he contacted Dobson about buying a franchise. The entire crew bailed out, with Harmon parachuting into a jungle. The brand really is tied to both of these families, Hartmann says. Together, they raised three children: Hugh, Lynne and Tom. However, if one thinks about it, if it were not for this incident, Dobson would not have gone down the road that he did to finance Whataburger. Andrews developed a close relationship with Dobson; he even coined the companys popular slogan, We build a bigger, better burger., Today, those oversized burgers and the promise of fresh ingredients generate annual sales of $1.8 billion, making Whataburger the thirty-third-largest restaurant chain in the countryand the second-largest founded and based in Texas, after Chilis. Under Reeses leadership, WOA repeatedly won the chains annual best franchise award. Thats quite a success story to tell, though. The pragmatic Lady Grace rolled up her sleeves and got to work, teaching her children the family business along the way. Angel was a bit more adventurous than Dobson, though both crashed several times in Africa while mining for diamonds. Make sure that the file is a photo. Found more than one record for entered Email, You need to confirm this account before you can sign in. Little did he know that he was going to be the founder of an epic fast food restaurant. The burgers sold back then are the same as the original Whataburger that many Texans still love to today. This is a carousel with slides. Harmons parents, Hugh and Ethel, raised cattle and fed the family fresh beef, milk, and home-grown vegetables. The very first WhataGames, the company's biennial burger Olympic competition for Team Members, was held. This was a very interesting story to tell! Whataburgers Facebook page reached 1 million fans in 2013, just over a year after its launch. Use the links under See more to quickly search for other people with the same last name in the same cemetery, city, county, etc. Please enter your email and password to sign in. Are you sure that you want to delete this photo? Growing up during the onset of the Great Depression, the Dobson family had few resources, but plenty of food at a time when food meant everything. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/16533251/harmon-archibald-dobson. Whataburger dismisses WOAs allegations, saying the suit contains serious misstatements and baseless speculation. (Whataburger and WOA and their attorneys declined to be interviewed for this story. Previously sponsored memorials or famous memorials will not have this option. If you notice a problem with the translation, please send a message to [emailprotected] and include a link to the page and details about the problem. The company also said it didnt intend for the 1993 settlement to give WOA exclusive rights or lower royalties. No animated GIFs, photos with additional graphics (borders, embellishments. By Stefano Esposito and Sam Kelly. Later, he went to Egypt and worked on the Suez Canal. And by the end of 1989, Whataburger was serving hot and fresh food at 440 different locations. He realized that he needed some creative marketing strategies to obtain new customers. He felt like the burgers at Dairy King were too small and wanted to build a really big burger, calling it the Whataburger. Treating our customers right. Tragedy struck the Whataburger family in 1967 when a plane crash took the life of Harmon Dobson. Online ordering through Whataburgers app and website debuted in 2019. With time, they started to expand more outside Texas because Texans gave this restaurant a gold star. Which memorial do you think is a duplicate of Harmon Dobson (16533251)? The plane was making unusual noises and was rumored to be having engine trouble. A system error has occurred. Unflinching, she steadfastly refused. Is It Possible to Be Vegan Without Eating Vegetables? So proud & so tired.17. This relationship is not possible based on lifespan dates. [2] She ultimately refused to sell the company, wanting it to be kept in the family, and became chairwoman of the board of Whataburger until her death in 2005. They werent in a hurry to expand, and they rarely if ever expanded outside their comfort zone and their target market.. While passing through the Southwest United States, particularly Texas, one will probably encounter big, tall, orange and white signs with a Texas-sized W. This is the sign of the famous Texas fast food restaurant Whataburger. By the end of the decade, Harmon would open Whataburger #21 in Pensacola, Florida. Many Texans still love and appreciate the food at this Texas treasure. If you fill out the first name, last name, or agree to terms fields, you will NOT be added to the newsletter list. However, before he found his landing place, he took a detour to Africa where he partnered with friend JimmyAngel, who insisted that there was a lucrative diamond business there. Police say the Harmon Rocket a two-seat sport plane caught fire after the crash, and both a man and a woman were found deceased inside the aircraft. It hurts the brand ultimately.. Dobson revealed that in Fast Food magazine in 1957 that flying over a Whataburger in Bryan, Texas led to more customers buying burgers. Great article! Harmon never lived to see his shack become a regional burger empire; he died in a plane crash in 1967. It has expanded in the Southwest United States with about 800 locations in ten states. By 1951, Dobson was an official Texan. Cant tell much yet.6, August 11, 1950- Nice day today $97. In addition to that, Dobson sold chips and a cold drink with the burger. Are you sure that you want to report this flower to administrators as offensive or abusive? The Harmon Rocket two-seat sport plane . BDT Capital Partners acquired a majority interest in Whataburger and Ed Nelson was promoted to President in 2019. Harmon Dobson founded this famous Texas hot spot in 1950. Dobson wrote about his success during the first couple of days Whataburger opened in his journal. Early life [ edit] Whataburgers affairs were more and more being turned over to the professionals, all of whom wanted to participate in what by now had ceased to be a family business and had become simply a large corporate entity, WOA claims in its lawsuit. 1 Colonization and Settlement (1500-1763), 2 Revolution and Early Republic (1754-1801), 4 Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877), 5 Emergence of Modern America (1877-1929), 4 Late Middle Ages-Renaissance-Reformation Europe (1300-1648), 3 Post-Classical History (600 CE-1492 CE), HS 1302 United States History since 1877, SP 3392 Language Variation and Dialectology of Spanish, Dom DiFurio and Oria McCaffrey, Whataburgers founding family sells controlling stake in iconic Texas chain,, College of Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences. After the settlement, the leadership of both companies changed. This plane was easy to spot as it towed a Whataburger banner in the air and blared its duck-like airhorn.9, After every flight, business would do well. Even the grandchildren work at Whataburger and attend company meetings. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. AKA Thomas E. Dobson. Dobson faced financial challenges. You may not upload any more photos to this memorial, This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has 20 photos, This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded 5 photos to this memorial, This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has 30 photos, This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded 15 photos to this memorial. She also gave copious amounts of her time and money back to Corpus Christi and the state. And You Thought Feral Hogs Were Bad. Forrest Wilder writes about politics and the outdoors. Today, our founder's original vision still inspires everything we do. Family members linked to this person will appear here. However, everything changed when Dobson was put in charge of the refinerys mess hall, and it was here that his education in large-scale food service began. Looking for a more secure venture, Dobson met and partnered with Paul Burton. All three work hard to ensure that Whataburger never strays from their fathers original concept, which was to serve hungry people great food in a clean and friendly environment. In Reeses telling, the states most famous burger joint has become just another greedy corporate entity. Dobson later was hired to help build a naval base where he worked on building radio towers, tanks and hangars. At age 16, Dobson was accepted into the University of Missouri to study journalism, but was forced to return to his family farm soon after attending due to a family crisis at home due to the Great Depression. A brief period of military camels in Texas became lost to even most history books. Es Cuaresma y Whataburger lo sabe: El Whatacatch, est de regreso! 1 of 6. Drag images here or select from your computer for Harmon Archibald Dobson memorial. cemeteries found within kilometers of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. Thank you for fulfilling this photo request. It consists of a grilled quarter-pound beef patty, fresh lettuce, four dill pickles, three slices of tomatoes, chopped onions, mustard and ketchup. On August 8, 2000, Whataburger proudly celebrated its 50th anniversary with 575 restaurants in operation and millions of fans all over the country. . Are you sure that you want to delete this memorial? But thats a tough needle to thread for a company that has developed intense customer loyalty because of its down-home, noncorporate image. Along the way they talked about old times and old friends. Please contact Find a Grave at [emailprotected] if you need help resetting your password. I love Whataburger and it is a Texas staple. Send simple, comforting meals with Home Chef. Together, they raised three children: Hugh, Lynne and Tom. But perhaps because his dear friend Harmon Dobson was gone, his personal connection no longer seemed to mean as much as it once did. They have also hosted Wow fund-raising events where they combine fun community activities with charitable giving. [8] The crash killed Dobson and his business associate. Once it was averted, Harmon began searching for a new path to success. The sponsor of a memorial may add an additional. Their business completed the next day, on April 11, 1967, and the men were going back home. Harmon Dobson died in a plane crash in 1967, and his widow, Grace (whose first date with Harmon was at Whataburger #3, in Corpus), ran things until the first outsider, Jim Peterson, took over in the early seventies. But the rift between the Andrews family and the burger chain they helped build represents a struggle between the past and the present, and between two families who have known each other for a long time. The young man would go on to amass a fortune in land and cattle, not far from where he first disembarked. The All-Time Favorites menu, featuring four of the most loved specialty sandwiches from over the years, made its debut and was greeted enthusiastically by Whataburger fans. Despite all these changes, we're still sticking to what got us here. There was an error deleting this problem. Because of World War II, auto manufacturing plants had been repurposed to produce wartime products. This is the era in which country music legend Mel Tillis started appearing in television commercials for the company, a role that would continue through the 80s. Man dies after crashing his plane near U.S. 40. By The Canadian Press Sat., Sept. 26, 2020 The other victims were identified by the Texas . Try again later. The meeting between Pierce and the rich soil of the coastal plains of Texas might have been destiny. Be the first to post a memory or condolences. It was the first Whataburger restaurant outside the state of Texas. Eventually, Jim Peterson became the new CEO, but he left a negative impact on the company. Harmon Dobson was sixteen years old on Black Friday, but this first Black Friday was no shopping extravaganza: it marked the most devastating stock market crash in United States history. Dobson and Burton scouted out several locations for their big burger venture before settling on Corpus Christi. In the past, corporate simply approved such requests, as stipulated under the 1993 settlement. Dobsons journey started when he left Arkansas for Texas in 1950. I was also unaware of its background nor founder Harmon Dobson. In exchange, his company got renewed assurances of its exclusive rights to develop stores in Bee, Jim Wells, and Webb counties and locked in a royalty rate lower than that assigned to other franchisees. Verify and try again. Peterson resigned in 1993. That someone was Harmon Dobson, and that chain is Whataburger, which he started in a Corpus Christi shack in 1950, and which today numbers some 700 restaurants, the majority of them still in Texas. [7] The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) summary classifies the accident type as a stall. The main reason for the move was for oil. It isnt a small business anymore, and to keep ahead of the competition, it may have to start acting its size. Te damos 5 razones para no perderte el Buffalo Ranch Chicken Strip Sandwich y la Buffalo Ranch Chicken Salad. Jos R. Ralat is Texas Monthlys taco editor, writing about tacos and Mexican food. Each and every Whataburger is still made to orderwhen it's ordered. Gender: Male Race or Ethnicity: White Occupation: Business Nationality: United States Executive summary: CEO of Whataburger Father: Harmon A. Dobson (Whataburger founder, d. 1967, plane crash) Mother: Grace (d. 1-Sep-2005) Brother: Hugh Sister: Lynne Whataburger President (1993-2007) Whataburger CEO (1993-) George W. Bush for President With his massive profits, he dabbled in oil speculation and mining diamonds in South America. In November 1942, a B-17 bomber with a 12-man crew crashed into a Greenland ice cap. As a team, they expanded the Whataburger chain and had a family. Whataburger moved its Home Office to San Antonio from Corpus Christi in 2009. Neither Whataburger nor Whataburger of Alice would be what it is today without the other. If they cant settle their differences, its not clear where theyll be tomorrow. Dobson, who was an avid pilot, was inspired by his time in sky, designed the orange and white striped A-frame store in Odessa, Texas, in 1961. Most people thought Grace Dobson would sell her rapidly growing hamburger business after her husband died in a private plane crash in 1967. .