Raymond Albert Kroc (1902 - 1984)

Born 5 Oct 1902 in Oak Park, Cook, Illinois, USA

Ancestors

Died 14 Jan 1984 at age 81 in La Jolla, San Diego, California, USA

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Ray Kroc is Notable.

Biography

1902 Birth and Parents

Raymond Albert Kroc was born on October 5, 1902 in Oak Park, Illinois, near Chicago, to parents of Czech origin, Rose Mary (née Hrach) and Alois "Louis" Kroc.His father was from the village of Břasy near Plzeň, Bohemia, which is now the Czech Republic. Kroc's father had made a fortune speculating on land during the 1920s, only to lose everything with the stock market crash in 1929. ^[1]

His birth record gives the location of Raymond Albert Kroc's birth 5 October 1902 as Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. ^[2]

He was the son of Alois Kroc (1879–1937) and Ethel Janet Fleming Kroc (1901–1965. They married in 1922. ^[3]

Ray Kroc grew up and spent most of his life in Oak Park. ^[1]

1910 Census

In the United States Census, 1910, Raymond Kroc was in the household of Louis Kroc, Oak Park, Cook County, Illinois. ^[4]

World War I

During World War I, he lied about his age and became a Red Cross ambulance driver at the age of 15 years old, unknowingly alongside Walt Disney. The war, however, ended shortly after he enlisted. ^[1]

1923 First Marriage to Ethel Fleming

Raymond Albert Kroc married Ethel Fleming in 1923. ^[5]

He married Ethel Fleming in 1922. They divorced in 1961. ^[1]

1930 Census

In the United States Census, 1930, Raymond Kroc is in Oak Park Cook County, Illinois. ^[6]

Depression

During the Great Depression, Kroc worked a variety of jobs selling paper cups, as a real estate agent in Florida, and sometimes playing the piano in bands. ^[1]

1937 Death of Father

Louis Kroc died 15 January 1937 in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. ^[7]

1940 Census

In the United States Cesnsu, 1940, Raymond A. Kroc is in Arlington Heights, Wheeling Township, Cok County, Illinois. ^[8]\

1948 Franchiser for McDonald Brothers

In 1948, as a milk machine salesman, traveling across the country, he took note when the McDonalds Brothers of San Bernardino, California, purchased eight of his multi-shake mixers. He visited their restaurant business and became convinced that he could sell mixers to every new franchise restaurant that they opened. Offering his services to the McDonald Brothers who were looking for a new franchising agent, he took on the job to widen their business. ^[3]

After World War II, Kroc found employment as a milkshake mixer salesman for the foodservice equipment manufacturer Prince Castle. When Prince Castle Multi-Mixer sales plummeted because of competition from lower-priced Hamilton Beach products, Kroc was impressed by Richard and Maurice McDonald who had purchased eight of his Multi-Mixers for their San Bernardino, California restaurant, and visited them in 1954. Kroc became convinced that the concept and design of this small chain had the potential to expand across the nation. ^[1]

Having been in approximately one thousand kitchens, Kroc believed the McDonald brothers had the best-run operation he had ever seen. The restaurant was clean, modern, mechanized, and the staff professional and well-groomed. Roadside hamburger restaurants were more often than not hangouts for motorcycle gangs and rebellious teenagers, and Kroc saw in McDonald's a better vision for a restaurant. He once said "In my experience, hamburger joints are nothing but jukeboxes, pay phones, smoking rooms, and guys in leather jackets. I wouldn't take my wife to such a place and you wouldn't take your wife either." ^[1]

1955 Partnership with McDonalds Brothers

In 1955, Kroc opened the first McDonald's franchised under his partnership with the McDonald brothers in Des Plaines, Illinois. The restaurant was demolished in 1985. Recognizing its historic and nostalgic value, in 1990 the McDonald's Corporation acquired the stand and rehabilitated it to a modern but nearly original condition, and then built an adjacent museum and gift shop to commemorate the site now called McDonald's #1 Store Museum. ^[1]

1963 Second Marriage to Jane Dobbins Green

He married Jane Dobbins Green in 1963. They divorced in 1968.^[1]

1961 Purchase of McDonalds Brothers Corporation

In 1961, Ray Kroc bought the company for $2.7 million, calculated so as to ensure each brother $1 million after taxes. Kroc maintained the assembly line "Speedee Service System" for hamburger preparation that was introduced by the McDonald brothers in 1948. He standardized operations, ensuring every burger would taste the same in every restaurant. He set strict rules for franchisees on how the food was to be made, portion sizes, cooking methods and times, and packaging. Kroc also rejected cost-cutting measures like using soybean filler in the hamburger patties. These strict rules also were applied to customer service standards with such mandates that money be refunded to clients whose orders were not correct or to customers who had to wait more than five minutes for their food.

By the time of Kroc's death, the chain had 7,500 outlets in the United States and 31 other countries and territories. The total system-wide sales of its restaurants were more than $8 billion in 1983, and his personal fortune amounted to some $600 million.

1969 Third Marriage to Joan Beverly Mansfield

He married Joan Kroc in 1969. ^[1]

Joan Beverly Mansfield Kroc was born in 1928 and died in 2003. ^[3]

Joan Kroc, was a philanthropist who significantly increased her charitable contributions after Kroc's death. She donated to a variety of causes that interested her, such as the promotion of peace and nuclear nonproliferation. Upon her death in 2003, her remaining $2.7 billion estate was distributed among a number of nonprofit organizations, including $1.5 billion donation to The Salvation Army to build 26 Kroc Centers, community centers serving underserved neighborhoods, throughout the country. ^[1]

1974 San Diego Padres

Kroc retired from running McDonald's in 1974. While he was looking for new challenges, he decided to get back into baseball, his lifelong favorite sport. Learning that the San Diego Padres were for sale, her purchased them. On April 9, 1974, while the Padres were on the brink of losing a 9–5 decision to the Houston Astros in the season opener at San Diego Stadium, Kroc took the public address microphone in front of 39,083 fans. "I’ve never seen such stupid ballplaying in my life," he said. The crowd cheered in approval. ^[1]

In 1979 after a $100,000 fine from Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, turned over operations of the team to his son-in-law, Ballard Smith. "There's more future in hamburgers than baseball," Kroc said. ^[1]

After his death, the Padres in 1984 wore a special patch with Kroc's initials, RAK.They won the NL pennant that year and played in the 1984 World Series. Kroc was inducted posthumously as part of the inaugural class of the San Diego Padres Hall of Fame in 1999. ^[1]

Death and Burial

In 1980, following a stroke, Kroc entered an alcohol rehabilitation facility. He died four years later of heart failure at a hospital in San Diego, California, on January 14, 1984, at the age of 81, and was buried at the El Camino Memorial Park in Sorrento Valley, San Diego. ^[1]

He died 14 Jan 1984 (aged 81) in La Jolla, San Diego County, California, USA. He is buried in the El Camino Memorial Park, San Diego, San Diego County, California, USA in the Mausoleum of the Bells, Bay 2, Section D. ^[3]

Raymond Albert Kroc died 14 January 1984 in Sacramento, California. ^[9]

Ray Kroc was buried at El Camino Memorial Park, San Diego, California. ^[10]

Legacy

The Kroc Foundation supported research, treatment and education about various medical conditions, such as alcoholism, diabetes, arthritis and multiple sclerosis. It is best known for establishing the Ronald McDonald House, a nonprofit organization that provides free housing for parents close to medical facilities where their children are receiving treatment. ^[1]

A lifelong Republican, Kroc believed firmly in self-reliance and staunchly opposed government welfare and the New Deal. ^[1]

Children

Ray Kroc and his wife Ethel had one daughter Marilyn Kroc Barg (1924–1973) ^[1]

1. Marilyn Janet Kroc Barg (1924–1973). Marylyn Janet Kroc was born 15 October 1924 in Oak Park, County County, Illinois. ^[11]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17} Wikipedia: Ray Kroc Last updated 6 May 2019. Accesed 5/25/2019 jhd
2. ↑ "Illinois, Cook County, Birth Certificates, 1871-1940," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q239-7W51 : 18 May 2016), Raymond Albert Kroc, 05 Oct 1902; Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States, reference/certificate 202360, Cook County Clerk, Cook County Courthouse, Chicago; FHL microfilm .
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3} Find A Grave: Memorial #3207 Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 25 May 2019), memorial page for Ray Kroc (5 Oct 1902–14 Jan 1984), Find A Grave Memorial no. 3207, citing El Camino Memorial Park, San Diego, San Diego County, California, USA
4. ↑ "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MKHV-J8C : accessed 25 December 2018), Raymond Kroc in household of Louis Kroc, Oak Park, Cook, Illinois, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 76, sheet 16A, family 347, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 239; FHL microfilm 1,374,252.
5. ↑
   • "Illinois, Cook County Marriages, 1871-1920", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q21V-STPY : 28 November 2018), Raymond Albert Kroc and Ethel Fleming, 1923.
6. ↑ "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XSTG-H3J : accessed 25 December 2018), Raymond Kroc, Oak Park, Cook, Illinois, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 2279, sheet 11A, line 40, family 281, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 505; FHL microfilm 2,340,240.
7. ↑ "Illinois, Cook County Deaths, 1878-1994," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2MK-ZZMX : 18 March 2018), Louis Kroc, 15 Jan 1937; citing Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States, source reference , record number , Cook County Courthouse, Chicago; FHL microfilm .
8. ↑ "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KWWT-54R : 14 March 2018), Raymond A Kroc, Arlington Heights, Wheeling Township, Cook, Illinois, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 16-163, sheet 8B, line 41, family 168, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 777.
9. ↑ "California Death Index, 1940-1997," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VPJY-HF1 : 26 November 2014), Raymond Albert Kroc, 14 Jan 1984; Department of Public Health Services, Sacramento.
10. ↑ "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVJ1-B522 : 13 December 2015), Ray Kroc, 1984; Burial, San Diego, San Diego, California, United States of America, El Camino Memorial Park; citing record ID 3207, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.
11. ↑ "Illinois, Cook County, Birth Certificates, 1871-1940," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKM7-T4ZT : 18 May 2016), Marylyn Janet Kroc, 15 Oct 1924; Oak Park, Cook, Illinois, United States, reference/certificate 1628, Cook County Clerk, Cook County Courthouse, Chicago; FHL microfilm .

See also:

• McDonald's Our History and Timeline