Wendy's founder remembered by thousands as friends, employees, strangers pay last respects

DUBLIN, OHIO - Thousands of mourners -- friends, strangers, even employees dressed in Wendy&#39;s uniforms -- waited in line to pay their respects to a man many knew simply as &#34;Dave.&#34; <br> <br> Wendy&#39;s founder Dave Thomas, who began pitching his burgers and fries in television commercials in 1989 and went on to become a household face, died Tuesday of liver cancer at his home in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He was 69. <br> <br> Even though he never met the man, Chris Corona, 27, of Dublin, was among the mourners who gathered for a public viewing Wednesday to say goodbye. He fought back tears as he approached Thomas&#39; closed casket, draped in red roses, in the lobby of Wendy&#39;s International headquarters. <br> <br> &#34;He just looked like a nice guy,&#34; Corona said as he looked at Thomas&#39; portrait above the casket. &#34;You could tell the guy had personality to get up and do these goofy commercials. To see a guy in his 60s do that ... you have to give him credit.&#34; <br> <br> Gary Tanguay, 44, of Columbus, said Thomas&#39; work promoting adoptions inspired him to pay his respect. <br> <br> &#34;It&#39;s amazing to me how much of himself that he gave to better the lives of children,&#34; Tanguay said as he passed dozens of photos of Thomas and plaques commemorating his achievements. <br> <br> Denny Lynch, vice president of communications for Wendy&#39;s International, said Thomas had an incredible talent for connecting with people. <br> <br> &#34;People have come up to me and told me that they didn&#39;t know Dave well, but when he would talk to them he made them feel like they were the most important person in Dave&#39;s mind at that moment,&#34; he said. <br> <br> Lynch said Thomas, who appeared in more than 800 of the humorous ads -- usually wearing a white short-sleeved shirt and red tie -- will be edited out of new commercials made four months ago. Older commercials will not be rerun, he said. <br> <br> But future Wendy&#39;s commercials will carry on the homespun tradition that Thomas used to help turn the hamburger chain into one of the world&#39;s top fast-food enterprises, Lynch said. <br> <br> Thomas opened his first Wendy&#39;s Old Fashioned Hamburgers in Columbus in 1969. He named the restaurant after his 8-year-old daughter Melinda Lou, nicknamed Wendy by her siblings. <br> <br> The chain now has 6,000 restaurants worldwide. <br>