[1][2] In this role, Thomas appeared in more than 800 commercial advertisements for the chain from 1989 to 2002,[3] more than any other company founder in television history.

Thomas spent some of his early childhood near Kalamazoo, Michigan, with his grandmother, Minnie Sinclair, whom he credited with teaching him the importance of service and treating others well and with respect, lessons that helped him in his future business life.

Decades later, Regas Restaurant installed a large autographed poster of Thomas just inside their entrance, which remained until the business closed in 2010.

When his father prepared to move again, Thomas decided to stay in Fort Wayne, dropping out of high school to work full-time at the restaurant.

Having food production and service experience, Thomas requested the Cook's and Baker's School at Fort Benning, Georgia.

[12] In the mid-1950s, Kentucky Fried Chicken founder Col. Harland Sanders came to Fort Wayne, hoping to find restaurateurs with established businesses to whom he could try to sell KFC franchises.

During this time, Thomas worked with Sanders on many projects to make KFC more profitable and give it brand recognition.

[13] By 1968, Thomas had increased sales in the four fried chicken restaurants so much that he sold his share in them back to Sanders for more than $1.5 million.

[citation needed][15] After serving as a regional director for Kentucky Fried Chicken, Thomas became part of the investor group which founded Arthur Treacher's.

[21] By 1990, after efforts by Wendy's advertising agency, Backer Spielvolgel Bates, to get humor into the campaign, a decision was made to portray Thomas in a more self-deprecating and folksy manner, which proved much more popular with test audiences.

[21] Consumer brand awareness of Wendy's eventually regained levels it had not achieved since octogenarian Clara Peller's highly popular "Where's the beef?"

The group of entrepreneurs spent three years refining plans, raising money, finding a property, and recruiting teachers and students.

[26] In 1979, Thomas received the Horatio Alger Award for his success with his restaurant chain Wendy's, which had reached annual sales of US$1 billion with franchises then.

He was unanimously elected to the Scottish Rite's highest honor, the Grand Cross, by The Supreme Council, 33°, in Executive Session on October 3, 1997, in Washington, D.C.[citation needed] A small triangular block and the surrounding streets and traffic pattern in the Northeast quadrant of Washington, D.C., is unofficially known in the D.C. area as Dave Thomas Circle, due to the longtime presence of a Wendy's franchise and its parking lot on that block.