Coming Home to the Hobby House
The 17-year-old Dave Thomas who joined the Army was a far cry from the 21-year-old man who returned to Ft. Wayne in 1953. Dave’s vocation for the restaurant business was mightily reinforced by the Cook and Baker’s School, the soldier mess hall, and the NCO Club. Dave learned everything about ordering food for thousands of soldiers, taking inventory, arranging work schedules for employees, improving the system to serve soldiers three meals daily, listening to his customers (soldiers) to vary the food selections, and managing a big budget to keep his bosses happy. His willingness to volunteer for more responsibility built his self-confidence, knowledge, and experience. He felt ready for bigger things, like becoming manager of the Hobby House.
The restaurant team welcomed back Dave with open arms. It wasn’t long before he was managing the kitchen. One day during a big rush of diners, Dave was cooking food and ringing a bell, so the waitresses knew to pick up their orders. A new waitress was moving too slow in Dave’s mind, and he decided to let her know by constantly ringing the bell. Her name was Lorraine, and she marches up to him: “You want me to serve this food or do you want to wear it!” No doubt she left a distinct impression. Dave liked her false bravado. Plus, she was very pretty. They started dating and quickly found they were in love.
Lorraine was painfully shy. She grew up southeast Ohio during the Depression and survived by living with only bare necessities. She embraced hard work and took nothing for granted. If pushed, she wasn’t afraid to speak her mind. Her parents divorced and mom remarried and brought the family to Ft. Wayne, IN, a working-class city.
Lorraine and Dave held a mutual attraction. They respected each other’s work ethic, believing that hard work was the only way to improve their lives. They had suffered the harsh loneliness that came from broken families. They wanted children, and the kids would be raised differently from their own upbringings. Although they were pretty young, they got married and vowed never to get divorced. Phil Clauss got them started by loaning money for a small house.
Lorraine ran the house and did everything to create a family home. Children came quickly. They barely had money to pay bills --- basically in survival mode. But they were in love! And determined to succeed. They bought old furniture from the Hobby House and anything else they could get secondhand. It seemed everything was on a payment plan. Lorraine made all the clothing for the growing number of children. Pam would walk to the public school nearby, and siblings Kenny, Molly and Wendy “entertained” Lorraine every day. She made sure the kids had a normal childhood. They would often go to the Hobby House to see dad working. If they were lucky, they would each get a special treat to eat.