Don Karcher of Carl’s Jr. Chain Dies

Donald F. Karcher, who went from washing dishes in his brother Carl’s barbecue joint to become president of the Carl’s Jr. international fast-food chain, died Tuesday after a yearlong bout with lung cancer. He was 64.

Karcher was one of the most respected voices within the restaurant industry as president of Carl Karcher Enterprises in Anaheim, though he spent most of his working life in the publicity shadow of his older brother, the company chairman.

He died peacefully with his family at his side at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange. A lifetime nonsmoker, Karcher’s health had deteriorated for months once his inoperable cancer was diagnosed, company officials said.

Yet he maintained a regular work schedule as much as possible in managing the 14,000-employee chain. He attended an executive retreat in Dana Point earlier this month, aided in breathing by an oxygen bottle.

“Through the years, Don gave his all to the company and cared so much about the business and the people who work here,” said his brother Carl N. Karcher, the company’s chairman and founder, in a statement. “He was the most loved person in this company, and he will be missed.”

Carl Karcher has assumed his brother’s duties until a successor is selected, the company said. American flags flying over each of the 632 Carl’s Jr. restaurants were lowered to half-staff.

Don Karcher’s term as president of the 3,600-member California Restaurant Assn. was to expire in August. Despite his illness, he had made plans to attend the regular monthly meeting in June, said the group’s executive vice president, Stanley Kyker.

“He was simply a person who was very direct. No nonsense,” Kyker said. “He was like a neighbor. He was just real down-to-earth--very caring, very giving.”

The family restaurant business was dominated by the two Karchers--Carl and Don. Carl has the jowly round face, the booming voice, the hulking frame that became the persona of the restaurant chain he founded. Don was slighter, more serious, almost ministerial in appearance. Carl was the visionary; Don was the hands-on restaurant man.

In an interview late last year, Don Karcher said he always relished working for his brother. Their style was “not a whole lot different” and “Carl and I have the same philosophy,” he said.

Donald Fredrick Karcher was born May 30, 1927, in Upper Sandusky, Ohio. He was the seventh of eight Karcher children--10 years younger than Carl--who all grew up working on the family dairy farm.

He married his childhood sweetheart, Dolly, in 1947 while he was still a farmer. But he was beckoned by the promise of fast-growing Orange County, where Carl had launched a barbecue restaurant on Harbor Boulevard after operating a few hot dog carts in Los Angeles.

He arrived in 1954 and was put to work in the kitchen. Another brother, Frank, was the manager and later went on into his own business ventures before becoming a Carl’s Jr. franchisee in Tucson.

Don Karcher, preferring to operate hamburger eateries rather than coffee shops, became the first manager of the two Carl’s Jr. restaurants that were started in 1956. They were designed to be miniature versions of the full-service barbecue restaurants.

He worked in various positions directly under Carl. In 1980, he was summoned to Carl’s office and offered the job of a lifetime: the presidency. “This very next minute you’ll be president if you want,” Carl told him. Both men wept.

Under Don Karcher, company revenues rose from close to $140 million in 1979 to $534 million last year. He guided the company through the introduction of more healthy items to the hamburger-based menu and the introduction of new technology such as ATM machines and computer screens to speed purchases.

All the while, the longtime Anaheim resident was raising a family. He is survived by Dolly; a son, Dana Karcher of Tustin; daughters Doneta Thomason of Grants Pass, Ore., Denise Campbell of Santa Ana, and Diann LeVecke of Placentia; and 11 grandchildren. He also served on a variety of boards in industry and Orange County charitable groups, from Chapman University to the Orange County chapter of the American Red Cross.

Services will be held at 4 p.m. Friday at St. Boniface Catholic Church in Anaheim. Interment will follow at 10 a.m. Saturday at Holy Sepulcher Cemetery in Orange.

In lieu of flowers, the family requested donations to the Don and Dolly Karcher Fund, part of the Education Foundation of the California Restaurant Assn., in Los Angeles.

Born: May 30, 1927.

Birthplace: Upper Sandusky, Ohio.

Title: President and chief operating officer, Carl Karcher Enterprises Inc.

Family: Married Dorothy (Dolly) McBeth, June 17, 1947; the couple have four children: son Dana and daughters Doneta Thomason, Denise Campbell and Diann LeVecke; there are 11 grandchildren.

Professional associations: President, California Restaurant Assn.; board of trustees, National Restaurant Assn.’s Educational Foundation; board of directors, National Rifle Assn.

Charitable work: Served on the boards of the Orange County chapter of American Red Cross, Anaheim Visitor and Convention Bureau, Cypress College Foundation, Loyola Marymount University, Chapman University, United Way of Orange County, Anaheim Stadium Inc., Cal State Fullerton, Cal Poly Pomona’s Center for Hospitality Management and Chapman General Hospital.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS:

1954-- Moves to California from Ohio. Older brother, Carl, immediately put him to work in the kitchen of his fledgling barbecue restaurant.

1956-- Becomes the first manager of the first two Carl’s Jr. restaurants.

1968-- Promoted to vice president of operations.

1976-- Elevated to senior vice president; two years later, Karcher becomes executive vice president.

1980-- Appointed president and chief operating officer of Carl Karcher Enterprises Inc.

1987-- In an effort to improve Carl’s Jr.’s sagging bottom line, Karcher closes 27 restaurants in Texas and Arizona, ending its plan for national expansion.

1988-- Karcher announces the licensing of Carl’s Jr. restaurants in Japan; after several years of cutbacks, the hamburger chain purchases and converts 13 former Wendy’s restaurants in the San Fernando Valley for $3.4 million.

1988-- The Karcher family and others are accused of insider trading in a $1-million civil complaint filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission; the suit is settled out of court a year later as family members agree to pay $187,560 in fines and penalties.

1989-- Carl Karcher Enterprises pays $3.1 million for 10 Wendy’s restaurants in Arizona, bringing its total to 482 restaurants and franchises in California, Arizona, Nevada and Southern Oregon.

1990-- In an effort to fuel expansion, the company announces plans to sell 57 company-owned restaurants in Northern California to franchisees over the next two years.

1991-- Carl’s Jr. opens restaurants in Mexico to long lines of waiting customers; Karcher’s inoperable lung cancer is diagnosed in July.

1992-- Company opens its first restaurant in Beijing, China, in March and announces plans to open four restaurants in the Middle East. Donald F. Karcher dies at St. Joseph Hospital May 19.

Researched by DALLAS M. JACKSON / Los Angeles Times