Ronald V. Joyce

Class of 1999

Ronald V. Joyce. As Senior Chairman and Co-Founder of The TDL Group Ltd., Ron Joyce operated Canada’s largest coffee and fresh baked goods chain – Tim Hortons. Mr. Joyce is also Chairman and Founder of the Tim Horton Children’s Foundation and became the single largest shareholder in Wendy’s International, Inc.

Joyce was born in Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia, in 1930. After five years of service in the Canadian Navy, he moved to Hamilton, Ontario, where he joined that city’s police force in 1956. In the early 1960’s, Joyce bought into a local Dairy Queen and soon fell in love with the quick serve restaurant business. From there, his entrepreneurial spirit began to take over.

Ron Joyce and NHL hockey legend Tim Horton co-founded The TDL Group, which opened its first store in Hamilton, Ontario in 1964. Following Tim Horton’s death in February of 1974, Mr. Joyce purchased all shares of the company and became the sole owner of the chain, which at that time had 40 stores. By 1999, Tim Hortons had grown to approximately 1,800 stores, with locations throughout Canada and the United States.

With the view in mind of assuring an orderly succession of the Tim Hortons chain, in the mid 1990’s Joyce sought a merger with Dublin, Ohio’s Wendy’s International, Inc. When the deal was officially signed on December 29, 1995, Joyce became the largest single shareholder in the Wendy’s organization. He was elected to the Wendy’s International Board of Directors at its annual meeting in March 1996, and subsequently became Senior Chairman of the Tim Hortons chain.

In addition to his involvement in the TDL Group, Mr. Joyce established the Tim Horton Children’s Foundation in 1975, and the Ron Joyce Foundation in 1998.

Mr. Joyce was appointed to the Order of Canada in 1992 and has received numerous awards for both his commitment to public service, and his business excellence.