Carl’s Jr. eatery founder, an Ohio native, dies at 90

Carl’s Jr. is considered a premium fast food brand.

ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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’s Jr. restaurants to introduce new concepts such as salad bars, self-service beverage stations, one-of-a-kind products such as 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 based 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 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 age 91. The two, who married in 1939 in Anaheim in what friends and relatives describe as a deeply happy union, reared 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.”

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.