SANTA ANA, Calif. – Carl Karcher, the Ohio farm boy with an eighth-grade education who turned his $326 investment in a hot dog stand into a multimillion-dollar fast food empire, died Friday afternoon. He was 90.

Karcher, who suffered from both the aftereffects of a stroke and Parkinson’s disease, developed pneumonia New Year’s Day and was admitted to St. Jude’s Medical Center, where he slowly declined.

He leaves behind a legacy as an innovator in the fast-food industry, using his Carl Jr.’s restaurants to introduce new concepts such as salad bars, self-service beverage stations, one-of-a-kind products like the Western Bacon Cheeseburger, indoor dining rooms, and the practice of bringing food to customers’ tables.

“Carl was a pioneer in this industry, a devout Catholic, and a loving family man. He touched countless lives through his generosity as a business leader and philanthropist, and his legacy will most certainly live on,” said Andrew F. Puzder, Chief executive of the CKE Restaurants, the company Karcher built from scratch.

Carl’s Jr. to this day is considered a premium fast food brand and is particularly known for its charbroiling technique, which gives its burgers a fresh flavor, said Bob Sandelman, president of consumer market research firm Sandelman & Associates Inc..

CKE Restaurants Inc., the company Karcher founded, now operates 3,052 restaurants in 42 states and 13 countries. Of those, 1,121 are Carl’s Jr. restaurants, a self-named brand initially conceived as a humble hot dog stand in Los Angeles more than 65 years ago.

The bulk of Karcher’s career and fame occurred while his company was headquartered in Orange County, Calif., where CKE maintains its flagship restaurant and some administrative offices in Anaheim.

In Orange County, Karcher was an influential businessman and supporter of both charitable and sometimes controversial political causes.

He was a vocal opponent of gay rights and abortion, backing his words with money to support controversial initiatives. But he and his wife were also generous donors to less polarizing causes such as homelessness and education.

, awarding hundreds of thousands of dollars in college scholarships.

Karcher traveled in elite circles, counting former President Ronald Reagan and entertainer Bob Hope as friends. A Catholic, Karcher had several audiences with Pope John Paul II, including one where he jokingly offered the pontiff a Carl’s Jr. coupon. The pope nonetheless knighted him into the Order of Malta, one of the highest honors a layperson can attain.

A year ago this month, Karcher was given a star on the Anaheim Walk of Stars. The honor came six months after his wife, Margaret, died at the age of 91. The two, who married in 1939 in Anaheim in what friends and relatives describe as a deeply happy union, raised 12 children together.

Karcher, an extrovert, frequently mingled with customers and restaurant employees, shaking hands firmly and making small talk with his booming voice.

“Everybody loved him,” said Stan Pawlowski, a friend and neighbor of more than 50 years. “Carl had a very positive, optimistic spirit. He believed things could happen.”


He never forgot his humble roots.

Karcher was born in 1917 on a farm near Upper Sandusky, Ohio. He left school after the eighth grade to help his parents with the farm. He first moved to California in 1937 to work at his uncle’s feed store in Anaheim, but homesickness led him back to Ohio a year later.

Fondness for his future wife, Margaret Heinz, whom he met at St. Boniface Catholic Church in Anaheim, brought him back to California – for good – in 1939.

In California, Karcher eventually landed a job as bakery deliveryman in Los Angeles. On his route, he noticed hot dog stands popping up on street corners. Karcher, who made deliveries to some of the stands, saw they were doing brisk business. He persuaded his wife Margaret they should buy one.

The couple, then living in Los Angeles, raised the money by taking out a $311 loan on their Plymouth Super Deluxe and putting up $15 cash.

It was so successful Karcher bought more stands. In 1944 the Karchers moved back to Anaheim. In 1945, the couple opened Carl’s Drive-In Barbeque on North Palm Street, the first restaurant that used the now famous star logo.

With 12 children to feed and a growing business, Karcher was known for watching expenses. At home, he switched off lights and recycled long before it was fashionable. Some of his favorite sayings were “If you watch the pennies, the dollars will take care of themselves” and “A piece of paper has two sides so use both.”

“He would always bend over to even pick up a penny on the ground,” said daughter Kadie Karcher.

Nothing, he told his children, was free. They all had to pay when they ate at the family’s restaurants.

“All of our friends thought we could order and not pay for our meal,” said daughter Pat LaGraffe. “No such deal. Dad believed in paying for what you get.”


The Karcher children, many of whom live in Orange County, describe a happy family home overflowing with friends and family. When their father came home from work, he spent about 30 minutes alone with Margaret to discuss the day. The family always ate dinner together followed by a half hour of prayer. The children later learned their father often returned to work after they went to sleep.

Karcher, who left school after the eighth grade, stressed the importance of education. Son Jerome Karcher, now a Roman Catholic priest, remembers each child having a private meeting with their father in his home office during report card time.

The Catholic faith was also important, and Karcher would wake up and organize all 12 children for 6:30 a.m. Mass every day during the five-week season of Lent.

“He’s a man of great integrity and great sincerity,” Jerome Karcher said. “In some ways you’d say he was a simple man with extraordinary virtue.”

Carl Karcher’s faith helped him during difficult times, too, his family said.

The 1990s was a particularly challenging era for Karcher and CKE. The recession and the Los Angeles riots hurt the company’s core Southern California market. Karcher lost his brother Don, who was in charge of day-to-day operations.


Some bad personal financial dealings, and an ensuing series of lawsuits sent Karcher to the brink of bankruptcy in 1993. Karcher also clashed with his board of directors about dual branding, a controversial idea at the time to incorporate the Green Burrito chain and its Mexican menu into Carl’s Jr. locations. That strategy that later proved successful and was copied by competitors. But in 1993, it may have been too controversial. Karcher was fired from the board.

A shrewd businessman, Karcher fought his way back through a series of canny business alliances to become “chairman emeritus” of the company, a position he only relinquished in 2004 due to poor health.

In later years, Karcher expressed dismay at the provocative direction the company took with its marketing – such as the edgy commercials of Paris Hilton writhing on a the hood of a Bentley.

The commercials were “at the very edge, over the edge,” Jerome Karcher said. “That was disappointing to him.”

Following a stroke and the onset of Parkinson’s disease, Karcher rarely made public appearances. His mind and sense of humor remained spry long after his voice and body failed him. Admitted to the hospital with pneumonia on New Year’s Day, Karcher handed out Carls Jr. hamburger coupons to well-wishers from his hospital bed.

“He won’t have to walk through the pearly gates, he’s going to go through the drive-in,” Pawlowski said. “He won’t need any stops.”


Karcher is survived by children Anne Marie Wiles, Patricia LaGraffe, Margaret Jean LeVecke, Carl L. Karcher, Catherine Karcher, Janelle Karcher, Father Jerome T. Karcher, Rosemary Miller, Barbara Wall, Joseph Karcher and Mary Miller. Another daughter, Carleen Karcher, died previously. Karcher is also survived by his 51 grandchildren and 45 great-grandchildren.

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(c) 2008, The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, Calif.).

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AP-NY-01-12-08 1537EST