Robert H. Brooks
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Robert H. Brooks (September 13, 1937-July 15, 2006) was founder of Naturally Fresh Foods in 1966 in Atlanta, Georgia, and later created the Hooters of America restaurant chain in the mid-1980's.
Born in Loris, South Carolina (near the Myrtle Beach area), Brooks grew up on a tobacco farm. A 1960 dairy science graduate of Clemson University, Brooks founded Naturally Fresh Foods, a condiment and salad dressing manufacturer in the Atlanta area. In 1984, Brooks brought expansion and franchise rights for the Hooters chain with a group of investors, eventually getting majority control and chairmanship of the organization.
Under Brooks' leadership, Hooters would expand from half a dozen restaurants (in and around Clearwater, Florida) to over 430 stores worldwide, including Taiwan, Venezuela, and Switzerland. It also included Hooters Air, an airline that ran from 2004 to 2006, the Hooters Pro Cup (auto racing), the Hooters Pro Tour (golf), the Hooters Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada that opened in February 2006, and Hooters MasterCard that debuted in March 2006. He was named Georgia Entrepreneur of the Year in 1996.
Brooks was also a major donor to universities in South Carolina. The Robert H. Brooks Performing Arts Center at Clemson, completed during the 1993-94 school year, was named in his honor following a large donation. He also donated $2 million to Coastal Carolina University in Myrtle Beach in 2003 to create their first football stadium which the university named in Brooks' honor. He also created the Brooks Motorsports Institute, the first of its kind in the US, at Clemson University about the study of the motorsports industry in the US.
Brooks turned over control of the company to his son, Coby, in 2003 and retired to Fayetteville, Georgia though he would come up and visit the Atlanta headquarters on a weekly basis. Even after his retirement from Hooters, he was still affectionately known as the "World Wide Wing Commander" by many within the company.
Brooks even returned $200 to the Federal Emergency Management Agency in 2005 when it was found out that one of the refugees from Hurricane Katrina spent $200 on a bottle of expensive champagne at the restaurant, earning praise from government officials for his actions.
He died in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on July 15, 2006 of a heart attack.
Brooks is survived by his wife Tami, and four children Coby, Boni, Jerrett Oates (stepson), and Christi Oates (stepdaughter). A fifth child, Mark, was killed in an April 1, 1993 plane crash with 1992 NASCAR Nextel Cup (formerly NASCAR Winston Cup) champion Alan Kulwicki that also took the lives of two other passengers.
Following the announcement of Brooks' death on July 17, 2006, the main page of the Hooters website changed their sign to "Farewell World Wide Wing Commander" that ran from July 17, 2006 to September 10, 2006. A tribute was also done in the July 31, 2006 comic strip Prickly City.
The 2007 Hooters swimsuit calendar was also dedicated in his memory.
