And not a word of how well he paid his employees the entire time compared to other fast food joints. Nor how he had a program that paid for the college education of Dick's employees. Dick Spady was a fine, fine man. RIP, sir.

Dick Spady was also a man with a heart of gold who cared about his community. In addition to paying and treating his workers well, he made lots of totally off-the-radar contributions to the community. In the 1990s-early 2000s there was a drop-in center for youth under 23 (the Capitol Hill Youth Center, run for several yrs by Street Outreach Services). Dick's regularly made food donations for the kids. Fresh hot burgers, fries, etc. They did this for years with no publicity or fanfare.

@3:

And on top of all that he very quietly supported artistic endeavors. I know he made contributions to several local organizations, and was a long-time board member of Snoqualmie Falls Forest Theater, among others.

Dick Spady was a classical capitalist. He started a business, invested in people, enjoyed the rewards, and fostered the community that supported him. There is a good & noble purpose to that cause – although it may just seem like "making burgers" – that gave thousands of people over decades the opportunity to work, study, save, learn and grow. For that too he will be missed.

A dear friend of mine worked his way through UW, graduating with a 5 year engineering degree and not a penny of debt by working at Dicks, eventually becoming a Dick's manager while scoring A's in the geeky, math-rich classes he took. This was of course back in the day when college students could actually work their way through school. From the beginning, my friend benefited from above minimum wage pay and a modest scholarship offered by Dick's. Anytime I eat at Dicks I put a buck in the tip jar because I can, unlike at McDonalds, Burger King (which inverted itself in its strange marriage to Tim Horton, which enables it to get out from under US corporate taxes), and pretty much all other fast food chains where it's all about screwing the workers while lavishly rewarding overpaid execs and helping shareholders grab wealth from the labors of people who slave at minimum wages. RIP Mr. Spady, and thanks for giving back to your community.