Fred had just observed his 80th birthday, and had served for nearly a decade as Chairman Emeritus of McDonald’s Corporation, the world’s largest restaurant company and a Dow Jones 30 Industrial. He began his McCareer as one of entrepreneur Ray Kroc’s first employees, as a grill man.
Over the years he developed the operating system (Quality, Service and Cleanliness) that made McDonald’s famous. He kept a low profile outside the company, but was a lion to those inside the 34 thousand restaurant organization — employees, franchises and suppliers — which he called the three-legged stool upon which McDonald’s stood. Fred created the training system that introduced millions of employees to the world of responsible work. Hamburger Universities and their home campus, the Fred L. Turner Training Center (which I named) in Oak Brook, IL, are taken very seriously by the generations of managers who are graduates. I hold a Bachelor of Hamburgerology degree, 1985.
I wrote about Fred, as well as fellow business legends,Dick McDonald and Ray Kroc, in my essay for the Chicago Literary Club, “Breakfast With Mr. McDonald.” You can Google it, or go to http://www.chiit.org and search under Ebeling. Fred was a wonderfully irascible character.
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January 8, 2013 at 09:54
Marty
Chuck, he was a visionary along with Ray. I learned so much from them over my years at McDonald’s. Fred will truly be missed.
January 27, 2013 at 23:24
Cheryl H. Oconnor
In 1956, he became one of the first employees hired by Kroc, founder of McDonald’s.
February 4, 2013 at 04:40
Bennett Y. Conner
Turner is heralded as the architect of the “quality, service, and cleanliness” (QSC) restaurant operations model that launched McDonald’s global presence and unparalled leadership in the industry. A native of Des Moines, Iowa, he was one of founder Ray Kroc’s first employees in 1956, and then partnered with Kroc in building the McDonald’s system.
February 5, 2013 at 12:44
Rebekah E. Church
In 1956, he became one of the first employees hired by Kroc, founder of McDonald’s.
February 5, 2013 at 19:46
Monique Winters
The agreement was a handshake with split agreement between the parties because Kroc insisted that he could not show the royalty to the investors he had lined up to capitalize his purchase. At the closing table, Kroc became annoyed that the brothers would not transfer to him the real estate and rights to the original unit. The brothers had told Kroc that they were giving the operation, property and all, to the founding employees. Kroc closed the transaction, then refused to acknowledge the royalty portion of the agreement because it wasn’t in writing. The McDonald brothers consistently told Kroc that he could make changes to things like the original blueprint ( building codes were different in Illinois than in California ), but despite Ray’s pleas, the brothers never sent any formal letters which legally allowed the changes in the chain. Kroc also opened a new McDonald’s restaurant near the McDonald’s (now renamed “The Big M” as they had neglected to retain rights to the name) to force it out of business.
February 7, 2013 at 07:53
Idebenone
Turner is heralded as the architect of the “quality, service, and cleanliness” (QSC) restaurant operations model that launched McDonald’s global presence and unparalled leadership in the industry. A native of Des Moines, Iowa, he was one of founder Ray Kroc’s first employees in 1956, and then partnered with Kroc in building the McDonald’s system.