Tributes #2 - to Recognize Those Who Have Passed

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William Fred Graham (1930-2021) was a retired Professor, a minister, an author, speaker, teacher, a husband, father, and all-around good man. He was one to be respected in every way. Fred was born in Columbus, Ohio, 31 October 1930, son of W. Fred ''Ted” and Serena (Clark) Graham. He graduated from Reynoldsburg High School in 1948, where he was very active in sports. He was a lifelong baseball fan. Fred went to Tarkio College in Missouri, earning his AB in 1952, then to the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary for his bachelor’s degree in 1955. He received a Master of Theology degree from Louisville Presbyterian Seminary in 1958 and earned Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Iowa in 1965. 

An ordained minister, he served churches in Iowa, and on an interim basis in Michigan. He was a member of Lake Michigan Presbyterian (Presbyterian Church, USA) and sang in the choir at Eastminster Presbyterian Church in East Lansing, where his ashes will be interred in the church gardens.

In 1953, he married Jean Garrett of Braddyville, Iowa, who was his companion in ministry and during his 30 years on the faculty at Michigan State University. In addition to his Jean, he is survived by four daughters: Terese ''Terry” of East Lansing, Bonny of Champaign, Illinois, Marcy (Doug) of Kirksville, Missouri, and Geneva ''Genny'' (Chris) of Vienna, Virginia. Also surviving are six grandchildren and one great granddaughter: Marcy, Reese, and Peter Havlatka, Will Murphy, and Benjamin and Samuel Looker, and Reese's daughter April. Two sisters also survive him: Grace Tanner of Columbus, Ohio, and Lucia Sims of Lawrence, Kansas.

Much of his work as a scholar was in 16th and 17th century history. He wrote books on John Calvin, on the Reformation in Scotland, as well as the sociology of religion. Locally, he was president of the Michigan State University chapter of the Honors Society Phi Kappa Phi. In retirement he served as president of the Michigan State University Retirees Association. In a lighter vein, he wrote occasional pieces on running and religion, on church growth and decline, on ecumenical issues, and doggerel from the family Christmas cards.

His accomplishments include Emeritus Professor at Michigan State University in East Lansing (Instructor, 1963-64; Assistant Professor, 1964-69; Associate Professor, 1969-73; Professor, 1973-92). Fred was an ordained Presbyterian Minister; Pastor, Bethel United Presbyterian Church, Waterloo, Iowa, 1955-61. President, Sixteenth-Century Studies Society, 1988-89. His publications include The Constructive Revolutionary: John Calvin and His Socio-Economic Impact, 1971; Picking Up the Pieces: A Christian Stance in a Godless Age, 1975; (editor) Later Calvinism: International Perspectives, 1994. William Fred Graham has been listed as a noteworthy Religious studies educator by Marquis Who's Who.Fred earned a Grantee Travel to Collections Grant National Endowment for the Humanities, Scotland, 1985, Finance Grant American Philosophical Society, Scotland, 1987. And he was president (1987, 1991) of the Calvin Studies Society, American Society for Church History, Phi Kappa Phi.

He will be remembered as a kind man who tried to blend humor and faith in whatever he did, whether playing a game, running, singing, or teaching. He enjoyed playing golf, tennis, and softball with his friends, but was not avid at his games. He believed that nature betrayed, but did not parade, its creation and sustenance by God, and that the same God spoke to him and called him to ministry by Jesus of Nazareth.

His family is peaceful in the knowledge that he will be playing baseball with his youthful body in the hereafter on God's team.

June 13, 2021

Mary Turner Stoots ~ president, Reynoldsburg-Truro Historical Society

Grace Tanner sent me an email today that broke my heart. Another member of the historical society has passed away. When I first took office, Fred and I spoke a couple of times. He tolerated my questions with patience and kindness. I found out that he was a Dr. of Theology and Presbyterian minister. Most importantly, he was raised in my church, and maybe he could explain the difference between a First Presbyterian and a United Presbyterian. I never understood as a kid why we had two Presbyterian churches a block apart in this small town. Am I the only one that wondered about that? 

I never got the chance to meet him, but I will miss him, and his bantering emails with Ray Karnes and Grace Tanner. 

His picture is from the 1948 Reynoldsburg High School Yearbook. Under the “Campus Leaders” section, there’s a cartoon of Fred as a bookworm. He was on the Editorial Staff for the Reynolian; on the Franklin County Honor Society; Varsity R, Varsity Basketball, Baseball, and Track. 

By his picture it says, “An athlete and a mighty one, who plays the game until it’s won.” Absent-minded professor in the Senior play … crazy crew cut … glasses … sister Grace … screwball … hobby-baseball …friend to all.

Rest in peace friend …

     I recently read that David (Dave) McConagha passed away in Maryland. He was one of Reynoldsburg’s proud U.S. Naval veterans. Dave was born in Columbus to Ralph and Martha McConagha. He graduated from RHS in 1959 where he played on the varsity basketball team. Dave was the class secretary and voted “Most Studious” his senior year. Dave’s Reynolian caption read: “He’s smart as a whip, yet not a square, when you want him to help he’s always there, ambition is to be successful, basketball, favorite celebrity is Yogi Bear, 5 or 6 year-old Chryslers, Honor Society.”

     In the “Letter from the Future, May 30, 1969”, a yearbook feature where a classmate wrote a fantasy letter from 10 years in the future, Judy Molnar wrote this about Dave: “At the reunion dinner table we began to talk about the lead Russia has in their space travel research. Dave McConagha was the principal speaker, for he is quite an expert on that subject. He is working at Cape Canaveral as an engineer. At the present time he is working on the intercontinental ballistic missile. We all agreed that with Dave on the job, Russia’s going to have a tough fight to stay ahead.”

     Dave married Jeanette Elena Myers (RHS 1960) in August, 1962 while he was working a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics from The Ohio State University. Dave attended Muskingham College before he transferred to OSU. Jeanette was a varsity cheerleader at RHS. The caption in the 1960 Reynolian for Jeannette read: “Where she gets her energy, no one knows, she’s an expert at dropping pianos on toes, ambition to be an OSU cheerleader, shrimp cocktail, water skiing, 9,999.” 

     In a fictitious paper called “The Future Times” section of the yearbook dated October 30, 1980 which foretold where the RHS class of 1960 would be in 20 years at a 1980 homecoming. Jeannette’s “future” was written as: “The festivities began when Miss Jeannette Myers of the Metropolitan Opera sang the Star-Spangled Banner.” In Jeannette’s “Last Will and Testament of the Class of 1960” Jeannette wrote: “I, Jeannette Myers, bequeath my ability to move pianos to anyone who’s foolish enough to try.” Jeannette went on to become a nurse and has sung with an International award winning Sweet Adelines chorus for many years.

     Dave and Jeannette had four children: Heather (McConagha)  MacNaughton  (husband, Deacon), Pat McConagha (wife, Kay), Deidre (McConagha) Austen (husband, Ed), and Marty McConagha (wife, Shannon). They also have eight grandchildren. Dave was the brother of Linda Kelly (husband, Lew), Nancy Tishkoff (husband, Stuart) and Susan Donaldson (husband, Lynn).

      According to Dave’s obituary: “In 1964, David embarked on a 27-year naval career with more than 25 years of flight experience with the A-3B and EA-6B aircraft. His career included teaching mathematics at the U.S. Naval Academy Preparatory School at the Naval Training Center in Bainbridge and flight training in Pensacola, FL and NAS Whidbey in Washington State. As a young navigator, David flew photographic reconnaissance and combat missions with VAP 61 in Vietnam from 1967 to 1969. David later served as a Naval ROTC instructor at Dartmouth College while earning a Master’s degree in Operations Research/Systems Analysis. David’s career continued with stations at NAS Norfolk with the electronic warfare squadron VAQ 138 and commanding officer of VAQ 132. His squadron’s deployments included tours on the aircraft carriers Saratoga and Dwight D. Eisenhower. During his tenure at NAS Whidbey, David attended and graduated from the Naval War College in Newport, RI. 

      “In 1983, David was transferred to the Pentagon where he held successive positions in the offices of the Chief of Naval Operations and the Director for Operations, Joint Staff. David was directly involved with policy, requirements, and operational control of U.S. military forces. Upon retirement from the Navy in 1991, David continued to serve our country as the Director, Office of Weapons Surety, for the U.S. Department of Energy. His responsibilities included nuclear weapons safety, security, and coordination with the Department of Defense. In the international arena, David contributed to both the North Atlantic Treaty Organization nuclear weapons safety and security programs, and cooperative surety efforts with the United Kingdom. He traveled frequently to the republics of the former Soviet Union to assist in the safe, secure dismantlement of their nuclear weapons. David retired from the Department of Energy in 1997.

     “David was a member of the VFW Fleet Reserve Association, Military Officers Association, and a lifetime member of the Vietnam Veterans of America. Along with other commendations, he was awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal (with gold star), multiple Navy Air Medals and Strike/Flight Awards, Navy Unit Commendation (with one bronze star), Navy Expeditionary Medal, Vietnam Service Medal (with one silver star), Sea Service Deployment Ribbon (with one bronze star), Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, Meritorious Unit Commendation (with one bronze star), and the Meritorious Service Medal.

     “David served several tenures as Senior Warden at Grace Episcopal Church in Brunswick, MD. In retirement, David became an active member of the American Legion, Post 166 in Ocean City, MD. David was a long-time member of the Barbershop Harmony Society, and was recognized as Barbershopper-of-the-Year when singing with the Catoctones in Frederick, MD. He later spent countless happy hours rehearsing and performing with The Chorus of the Chesapeake and singing baritone in several quartets. David’s retirement afforded him time to boat on the Susquehanna River, volunteer at the USNTC Museum in Bainbridge, MD, and visit Ireland to explore first-hand the genealogy he had spent so much time researching. David also was an avid attendee at sports and school events for his grandchildren. Some of David’s favorite days were filled with Ocean City trips in his convertible, listening to Willie Nelson and Patsy Cline, with his dog, Eli, by his side.

      “A service was held at Emmanuel Episcopal Church, 303 N. Main Street, Bel Air, MD on March 30, 2019.’ “

      It seems like the class futures in the Reynolians of both Dave and Jeannette were pretty accurate. Jeannette continues to sing and Dave did have something to do with Russia and security. Sometimes our former classmates make predictions we never would imagine to come true.

It was the hotspot of the east side, the Burger Boy Mainliner, and during the 50’s, this drive-in attracted hot rods with loud mufflers from all the surrounding communities, including Reynoldsburg.
 

Located in Berwick, just west of Route 33 (College Avenue), on the south side of Livingston Avenue, this teenage hang-out had “car hops” who hustled food and drinks on trays, which they clamped to the driver’s side of cars surrounding the restaurant. But you didn’t have to eat there; you could simply park and watch the other cars, or cruise around the lot yourself. On Saturday nights, after the movies let out, WCOL’s “Dr. Bop,” with his “stack of sh-lac,” broadcast live from the place. It got so hectic that off-duty police were hired to control traffic.
 

As one of the regulars put it, “This drive-in should be a historical landmark for Columbus. No drugs or alcohol were ever used or noticed; none were ever needed, and still a good time was had by all. The atmosphere of the Burger Boy Mainliner was all the ‘high’ any of us needed. It was just good clean fun and a great time to remember.”
 

Jim Near, from the far east end of Reynoldsburg, where the Fire Academy is now located, didn’t partake of the fun outside the Burger Boy. He was too busy inside washing dishes or filling in as a short-order cook. He could crack two eggs with one hand. Since the age of 15, he would walk to Livingston from the high school on Jackson Street or from his home, and hitchhike the seven miles to learn the business of flippin’ burgers.
 

Even in his yearbook, the 1956 ‘Reynolian’, one can see that the business was on his mind. Several mentions of “burgers” can be found in his class will and under his senior picture, where his “pet peeve” was listed as “dumb car hops,” an early testament to his keen interest in customer satisfaction.
 

After graduation, Jim became night manager at Burger Boy. He then went on to Hanover College in Indiana. According to his good friend Tom Rausch (RHS ’54), an upperclassman at Hanover, “Jim turned our Sigma Chi kitchen from a money loser with bad food to maybe the best place on campus to eat, and we made money on it!”
 

Jim graduated from Hanover in 1960, and after a short stint in the Ohio National Guard, he started working at the first McDonald’s in Columbus, on South High Street, where he eventually became the manager. When Roy Tuggle, his former boss at Burger Boy, co-founded BBF (Burger Boy Food-o-Rama), home of the whirling satellite, he invited Jim to become a manager and then vice-president of the new chain. To those early entrepreneurs, BBF stood for “Bigger, Better, Faster” as they strove to stave off the juggernaut that was McDonald's. Borden soon bought out BBF, however, and Jim was named President of Borden Retail Operations.
 

When his contract with Borden expired, Jim lent his expertise to Dave Thomas, Tuggle, and a couple of other big-time investors who had founded Wendy’s Hamburgers. Perhaps remembering that in his yearbook, he had listed one of his life goals as “owning my own drive-in.” He became a Wendy’s franchise owner, and by the end of the 1970s, he had opened over 39 Wendy’s restaurants in West Virginia and Florida.
 

After he sold all 39 back to Wendy’s, he became a rich man and retired early. Tom recalls, “Jim was never ostentatious about anything; you would never know he was wealthy.” But he grew tired of retirement, and was soon developing a spicy chicken sandwich, anticipating by decades the “hot and spicy” craze, and to house it, he built a new restaurant - Sisters Chicken and Biscuits, and it was wildly successful.
 

Scarcely a year later, Wendy’s bought Near’s concept and the Sisters restaurant for a cool million dollars, and soon opened 70 more units.
 

In 1982, Dave Thomas turned over the day-to-day operation of Wendy’s to a professional management group, which, in Thomas’ own words, “caused us to lose our focus,” and the business went downhill.
 

Four years later Thomas had had enough, and called back his old friend to lead the turnaround. Jim agreed to do it only if Thomas would return as spokesman for the company, appear in home-spun commercials, and visit with employees to bolster morale. And the rest is history.
 

Near became President and Chief Operating Officer and later CEO and Chairman of Wendy’s International. As Tom recalls, “I never heard a bad word about him from anyone, but he could move decisively.” Near replaced four top managers and instituted a stock ownership program for employees. He introduced value-priced menu items and specialty sandwiches and streamlined the business with computers. As a result, Wendy’s showed a five-year average earnings-per-share growth of 58% ... over four times that of McDonald’s! Management turnover dropped from 55% to 20%. Near was named “Operator of the Year” by ‘Nation’s Restaurant News’ and won the Silver Plate Award from the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association, among numerous other top honors.
 

In 1995, after 21 years with Wendy’s, Near turned over most of his duties to Gordon Teter and retired for good to Bonita Springs, Florida. The next year, on July 22nd, while attending the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Jim Near died of a heart attack in a hotel lobby at age 58. He left his wife, Nancy, and two sons, David and Jason.
 

Upon his death, there was no greater accolade than this, and it came from the Senior Chairman himself, R. David Thomas: “Jim was a great man and my best friend. He knew more about restaurant operations than anyone else I know. He loved the hustle and bustle of a busy restaurant, and his passion for the customers and employees was evident to everyone who met him. That will be his legacy. I’ll miss him dearly.”
 

Drive along the 2100 block of East Livingston now, in South Bexley, and you’ll find a tangle of signs, pedestrians, and vehicles near the I-70 interchange, which loops toward downtown Columbus. Look closely, and you’ll see Jim Near’s legacy. His original Sisters Chicken and Biscuits building, now Popeye’s Chicken, is still standing, and right next door, on what was once the site of the Burger Boy Mainliner, is another restaurant. It is a Wendy’s!
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Sources: Wendy’s press release July 23, 1996, Forbes Magazine January 3, 1994,columbusrestauranthistory.com, 1956 Reynolian,
with special thanks to Tom Rausch.

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James Whitney Near 1938-1996

American restaurant entrepreneur. Born to James Donald and Helen (German) Near in Columbus, Ohio, he started his restaurant career as a 15-year-old cook for a local Burger Boy Restaurant. He continued to work for Burger Boy throughout his high school and college years and late became vice president of the chain after graduating from Hanover College in Indiana. When Borden Inc. acquired Burger Boy in 1969, he became president of Borden's retail sales division. In 1974, he left Borden to become a Wendy's franchisee and developed 39 restaurants in four years in Florida and West Virginia. After selling those restaurants to Wendy's, he started the Sisters Chicken & Biscuits restaurant chain, which he sold to Wendy's in 1981. He then served as president and chief operating officer of Sisters International Inc. until 1986, when he became president and chief operating officer of Wendy's, and later became CEO in 1989 and chairman in 1991. 

During his tenure as Wendy's president, he turned the struggling chain around. He focused on the core hamburgers, chicken, and salads, reshuffled its offerings, and introduced value item menus and specialty sandwiches. He also focused on store-level operations, beefing up training and operational structure while cutting costs at headquarters. For his accomplishments, he was voted MUSFO Operator of the Year in 1992. He ran day-to-day operations of Wendy's until 1995, but maintaining his chairman title. He divided his final years between homes in Columbus, Ohio and Bonita Springs, Florida, with no history of health problems. On July 22, 1996, while staying in Atlanta's Downtown Hilton Hotel to attend the Olympic Games, he suddenly complained of chest pains in the morning and collapsed while walking to a first aid station. He was taken to Crawford Long Hospital of Emory University, where he was pronounced dead at 11:25 am.
 

Wendy's founder Dave Thomas, whom Near had encouraged to become the company's advertising spokesperson, said, "He was a great man and my best friend. He knew more about restaurants than anyone else I know. He loved the hustle and bustle of a busy restaurant, and his passion for the customers and employees was evident to everyone who met him. That will be his legacy. I'll miss him dearly."
 

Gordon F. Teter, who succeeded Near as CEO, chief operating officer, and president, said, "Jim has been an outstanding leader at Wendy's and throughout the industry. His passion for restaurant operations and taking care of every customer were the driving force behind Wendy's remarkable success over the past decade. He taught all of us how to be better operators."