J. Robert Thibaut; President of Restaurant Chain

J. Robert Thibaut, 50, president and co-owner of a Hawaii and California restaurant chain. With Sandy Saxen, Thibaut owned T.S. Enterprises, which has 14 restaurants, including Duke’s Malibu and Duke’s Surf City, the latter under construction at the Huntington Beach Pier. Born in Hollywood, Thibaut grew up in Pasadena and earned degrees at UC Santa Barbara and Harvard. He started his career as a dishwasher and owned his first restaurant by age 23. Thibaut and Saxen formed the Rusty Scupper Restaurant chain, built it up to 17 sites in nine states within four years, and sold it to Stouffer Hotels in 1975. After moving to Hawaii for a simpler life, Thibaut again joined Saxen in 1977 to found their current chain, beginning with Kimo’s in Lahaina on Hawaii’s island of Maui. In California, the chain’s restaurants also include Jake’s on the Lake (at Lake Tahoe) and Jake’s Del Mar. Thibaut became a community leader and philanthropist in Maui. On April 29 in Honolulu. Spokesmen declined to state the cause of death; the family requested that any memorial contributions be made to USC’s Norris Cancer Center.