Even the grandchildren work at Whataburger and attend company meetings. The Dobson family and their extended Whataburger family rallied around and supported Grace as she took over the business. He attributes that success to Whataburgers prudent approach to growth, training, and customer service. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. Little did he know that he was going to be the founder of an epic fast food restaurant. I never knew anything about the man who created it and i found it hilarious that he wanted people to say what a burger! I had no idea that the founder, Harmon Dobson, was not originally from here. Born in 1913 in Wayne, Oklahoma, Harmon Dobson was raised in the rural farming community of Cushman, Arkansas. And a new building design, which retained the spirit of the original A-frame, was unveiled. By the mid-60s, there were over 40 stores in fifteen Texas cities and four states. Cant tell much yet.6, August 11, 1950- Nice day today $97. 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. It hurts the brand ultimately.. This account has been disabled. This account already exists, but the email address still needs to be confirmed. Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. The golden age of drive-ins and American automobiles was just getting started back on August 8, 1950, when Harmon Dobson opened Whataburger #1. Harlon Gerry Dobson, of Pittsgrove Township, N.J., died Saturday at Crozier Chester Medical Center in this Philadelphia suburb, where he . He took jobs at the county fair and as an apprentice iron worker. Use Escape keyboard button or the Close button to close the carousel. Under the leadership of Grace Dobson, the company thrived and grew. The Transportation Safety Board says a plane that crashed last year southwest of Edmonton killing the two people on board, had collided with a power line.. To view a photo in more detail or edit captions for photos you added, click the photo to open the photo viewer. Dobson lived in the same modest house at Santa Fe Street and Meldo Park Drive for years, maintaining a close relationship with her children, grandchildren and friends, Sheka said. During the early 1990s, profits declined as new items such as popcorn shrimp, salads, and steak sandwiches were added to the menu. Is It Possible to Be Vegan Without Eating Vegetables? However, after only four months, Dobson grew restless and returned to the U.S. By August of that year, he returned home. By the end of the decade, Harmon would open Whataburger #21 in Pensacola, Florida. Harmon Dobson founded this famous Texas hot spot in 1950. He started his first establishment in 1950 as a large "wooden box" stand. They are memories Sheka said he will treasure. By March 5, the couple was married. 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. If you have questions, please contact [emailprotected]. Unfortunately, Coy was protective of Grace and had warned her about dating his unsettled, gallivanting brother. (Dobson remains as chairman.) Flowers added to the memorial appear on the bottom of the memorial or here on the Flowers tab. Each and every Whataburger is still made to orderwhen it's ordered. Harmon's is not the only plane crash to go against the drop in accidents that the War Department are reporting. Dobson and Burton's goal was to make a burger that took two hands to hold and that tasted good. The Alice franchise was a quick success, and over the decades Whataburger and the Andrews familys company, Whataburger of Alice (WOA), grew in tandem. Although he missed college, Harmon was determined to make his way in the world. 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. Te damos 5 razones para no perderte el Buffalo Ranch Chicken Strip Sandwich y la Buffalo Ranch Chicken Salad. Are you sure that you want to report this flower to administrators as offensive or abusive? 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. A brief period of military camels in Texas became lost to even most history books. Weve updated the security on the site. The case went to trial in 1993, but the two sides settled before the jury reached a verdict. The menu grew as well, with French fries and hot pies being added in 1962. BDT is a merchant bank that invests in family-owned companies. Oops, something didn't work. Failed to report flower. The plane, a Harmon Rocket, caught fire following the crash. Expand the Memories and Condolences form. Were not making much profit but at least they are going fast for our product.7, August 12, 1950- Big Day 141.80 What a workhouse 551 hamburgers.8, Dobson realized the presentation of his burgers mattered. It consists of a grilled quarter-pound beef patty, fresh lettuce, four dill pickles, three slices of tomatoes, chopped onions, mustard and ketchup. Online ordering through Whataburgers app and website debuted in 2019. cemeteries found within miles of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. Andrews surrendered exclusivity to the San Antonio market and agreed to sell the existing San Antonio stores back to Whataburger. The Dobsons son, Tom, became Whataburgers chief executive in 1993. Written by: Rebecca Canfield | Photos Courtesy of: Whataburger. GREAT NEWS! I didnt know the history of Whataburger was so interesting. However, over the years, Whataburger has become a legend in its own right. Harmon Archibald Dobson was an American entrepreneur best known as one of the founders of the fast food chain Whataburger. Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request. Whataburger proposed breaking the stalemate by approving the Laredo location only if Reese agreed to relinquish its lower royalty rate and give Whataburger veto power over all site selections, the lawsuit claims. There are no volunteers for this cemetery. Also on board and killed was soul singer Otis Redding . However, early on Burton and Dobson found that their differing business philosophies were undeniable. Tragedy struck the Whataburger family in 1967 when a plane crash took the life of Harmon Dobson. The plane was bound for Love Field in Dallas when it went down at 5:16 P.M. according to Mitch Barket, a Federal Aviation Admistration spokesman. There were nine crew members on board. 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. The entire crew bailed out, with Harmon parachuting into a jungle. Oops, some error occurred while uploading your photo(s). What kind of arrangement is appropriate, where should you send it, and when should you send an alternative? But perhaps because his dear friend Harmon Dobson was gone, his personal connection no longer seemed to mean as much as it once did. BDT is a merchant bank that invests in family-owned companies. By the end of 1950, Dobson had quit both the oil and auto industries and made Whataburger his sole venture. Resend Activation Email. On April 11, 1967, at around 4:30 p.m., Dobson and his business associate Luther John Sneed took off in Dobson's Cessna Skymaster from an airport in LaPorte heading for Victoria, Texas. Together, they raised three children: Hugh, Lynne and Tom. For Adler, the name on the stadium and the ball-throwing honor were small tributes to a woman he thought the world of. The best poems for funerals, memorial services., and cards. A Montana family is mourning the loss of their husband, father and grandfather this week after the 50-year-old man crashed in an airplane in Summit County while flying solo along a route he knew well. The burgers sold back then are the same as the original Whataburger that many Texans still love to today. Try again later. The ceremony wasnt mere sentiment at work. Dobson later was hired to help build a naval base where he worked on building radio towers, tanks and hangars. 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. Verify and try again. You can always change this later in your Account settings. What disappointed Harmon most about this era was the news that although he was accepted to the University of Missouri to study journalism, he would never graduate. Photos larger than 8Mb will be reduced. When I think of Whataburger, I immediately think of Texas and burgers. The two-seat aircraft crashed into a field north of Thorsby around 1:40 p.m., RCMP said in a Saturday evening news release. Harmons parents, Hugh and Ethel, raised cattle and fed the family fresh beef, milk, and home-grown vegetables. Numbers went from 600 to 950 burgers per day.10, August 4, 1951- Proud to be the beginning of what may be a lifelong business. According to the lawsuit, Reese met with Atkinson, who told her that despite the agreement, Whataburger didnt believe it was obligated to approve new sites and that it could veto any sites that the franchisee selected. Following that, the adventurous Dobson traveled to Bahrain in the Persian Gulf to help build a refinery. AKA Thomas E. Dobson. This flower has been reported and will not be visible while under review. Angel crashed fifteen times before meeting his demise, but it only took Dobson four wrecks to wake up and realize the diamond business might prove fatal. January 1, 1950- I think this will be an eventful year for me.1. Neither Whataburger nor Whataburger of Alice would be what it is today without the other. 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. 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 9 Intense Plane Crashes Caused By Stalls Smithsonian Channel Smithsonian Channel Aviation Nation 3.2M views 2 years ago 8 Bad Weather Plane Crashes Smithsonian Channel Smithsonian. In 2017 alone, Whataburger partnered with over 600 charities across its ten-state service area, donating over $5 million. The Whataburger, however, was a whopping quarter pound of fresh grilled beef loaded with fresh vegetables and served on a 5-inch bun, and in 1950 there was nothing like it. The young man would go on to amass a fortune in land and cattle, not far from where he first disembarked. The likeness of Andrews, wearing a cowboy hat and mounted on a limestone pedestal, was commissioned to mark the sixtieth anniversary of the oldest franchise of the iconic Texas burger chain. Perhaps the Depression stuck with young Harmon because food was important to him long after tough economic times had ended. [4], Dobson and Burton business venture was short lived when their partnership ended 1951 because of a dispute over Dobson's price raise of the burger from 25 to 30 cents. As a team, they expanded the Whataburger chain and had a family. Serving it hot and fresh, 24/7. She was infuriated that people were telling her to sell off her husbands dream and just enjoy the money. All photos appear on this tab and here you can update the sort order of photos on memorials you manage. The price of burgers was raised to 30 cents, and to Burtons chagrin, customers did not mind. In a short time, Dobson had an impressive business. A Douglas C-124C Globemaster II plane, serial 52-1062, was damaged beyond repair in an accident 10 km from Stephenville-Harmon AFB, NL (YJT), Canada. Shocked and saddened, the Whataburger family gathered around Lady Grace to comfort her and her three children in the wake of the tragedy. This is such a great topic! 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. Learning about Dobsons history was interesting as well, I didnt know that he had originally started out attempting to capitalize on the oil industry. The meat and vegetables were always fresh, never frozen. Whataburger Field, home of the Corpus Christi Hooks celebrated a ground-breaking ceremony with Grace throwing out the first pitch. In 1953, Joe Andrews Sr. became the first franchise owner that was not one of the original founders, with a location in Alice, Texas. As one of the largest franchisees, WOA was hit particularly hard by this arrangement. Harmon Archibald Dobson (October 8, 1913 - April 11, 1967) was an American entrepreneur best known as one of the founders of the fast food chain Whataburger. Dobson faced financial challenges. You need a Find a Grave account to continue. Are you sure that you want to delete this memorial? Police received a call at 1:41 p.m that a Harmon Rocket plane crashed into a field near Township Road 504 and Range Road 21, and then caught fire. Dobson was involved in the early growth of the franchise from 1950 until his death in an airplane crash in 1967. There is even a Whataburger race car and a Whataburger field in Corpus Christi that hosts a minor league baseball team. The Harmon Rocket two-seat sport plane . Today, in 2019, it has been 69 years since the first Whataburger opened up. 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. He was able to please his customers with a five-inch burger by making special arrangements with the Rainbo Bread Company to develop five-inch buns, which were an inch larger than the standard bun. Im beginning to like it & the dollars too.11, By the spring of 1967, Whataburger had expanded to more than forty stores in sixteen Texas cities and four states since it had first opened in 1950. However, news broke out in June 2019 that Whataburger sold a controlling interest in the company to Chicago- based investment banking firm BDT Capital. The men were killed instantly.12, About two years after Harmon Dobsons death, on July 10, 1969, Grace Dobson, the wife of Harmon Dobson, was officially elected chairwoman of the board with George W. Garrison named as the president. The Whataburger Jr. was added to the menu, as were jalapeos and onion rings. In part because of its regional statusof the nearly 800 current Whataburger locations, more than 600 are in Texasthe chain inspires a combination of pride and loyalty among many Texans. 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. The prosperity lasted until 1967 when Dobson and his friend Gene Crane were killed in a plane crash in La Porte, where they had stopped to refuel. Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pats Pick, for Texas Monthly. Sadly, in 2005, Whataburger Family Members mourned the loss of Lady Grace as she was called by many. The burgers sold back then are the same as the original Whataburger that many Texans still love to today. The email does not appear to be a valid email address. Geographical origins September 23, 1952- I never expected anything like this. My name is Courtney Pena and I am from McAllen, Texas. After hearing from a friend in Houston that Texas was teeming with both cars and oil, Dobson, whose business ventures now had him traveling halfway across the U.S., purchased a private plane and learned to fly it. Whataburgers Facebook page reached 1 million fans in 2013, just over a year after its launch. New menu additions soon followed, including the Breakfast On A Bun, Whatachick'nand the now-famous breakfast Taquitos. Harmon Dobson, a "young entrepreneur" who made his start in life shipbuilding, oil drilling and diamond training, was the man behind the burgers. Make sure that the file is a photo. 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. The men were killed instantly.12, About two years after Harmon Dobsons death, on July 10, 1969, Grace Dobson, the wife of Harmon Dobson, was officially elected chairwoman of the board with George W. Garrison named as the president. At the end of 1980, Whataburger opened its 300th restaurant. Eventually, more people came to eat the fresh, large burgers. He died when his private plane, a Cessna Skymaster, crashed shortly after takeoff. This, I believe, will turn out to be a very profitable investment, which is something up until May 1, I was very unaccustomed.3, Dobson aimed to make a better burger a burger so good that it would require two hands to hold it. The first drive-thru was installed in 1971. He purchased a frozen custard stand called Dairy King in Big Spring, Texas, and ran it for a few weeks to learn the business. Treating our customers right. He kicked off New Year's Day 1950 with a. 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. A few weeks after the funeral, Grace visited Dobson in Corpus Christi, and they had their first date at Whataburger. We report on vital issues from politics to education and are the indispensable authority on the Texas scene, covering everything from music to cultural events with insightful recommendations. Otherwise, it wouldnt approve any new sites for WOA. He had $2500 to invest in the right deal involving oil, and eventually, he became partners with Henry Mode on an oil lease in Loving County, Texas.2 Yet, this investment did not lead to success.

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