Leroy Browm Raffel's Obituary
Leroy Browm Raffel (96), co-founder of Arby’s Restaurants, passed away peacefully at home on March 21, 2023. He was born in Zanesville, Ohio in 1927 to Ann and Jacob Raffel and grew up in New Castle, Pennsylvania. He lived in Youngstown, Ohio until 1978, when he retired to Miami, Florida.
Leroy was married to Shirley (Shankey) Balbot Raffel for 73 years. He is survived by four children, Ken Raffel (Claire Oppenheim), Janet Raffel (David Sandmel) and Jim Raffel (Rachael) of Portland, Maine, and Nancy Raffel Osherow (Mark) of Boca Raton, Florida, eight grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. His greatest joy was spending time with family.
He enjoyed tennis, golf, racquetball, and skiing. He and Shankey were avid bridge players and loved to visit casinos.
Leroy grew up in the restaurant business, living in the Leslie Hotel in New Castle, Pennsylvania, one of several small hotels and working men’s bars operated by his father. Leroy attended the Riverside Military Academy in Georgia and the Wharton School of Business where, as he said, “I became an expert in poker, craps, and getting by without too much study.” He served in the Navy during WWII as a discharge officer in Washington, D.C.
He and his brother Forrest (Fuzzy) started their business careers with a small restaurant equipment company in Warren, Ohio. They moved the company, Raffel Brothers, to Youngstown, and built a successful business, supplying restaurants, schools, turnpike restaurants, and hospitals. Leroy said that “this was graduate school prep for our next career in Fast Food Franchising.”
In the early 60s, the Raffels decided to explore the growing fast-food industry. They visited Kelly’s Roast Beef in Revere Beach, Massachusetts. Customers were lined up in the deserted beach town eating delicious roast beef sandwiches. They decided that night that they would develop a chain of roast beef restaurants.
The brothers devised a detailed franchise plan simultaneously with a restaurant concept that focused on one sandwich: roast beef, sliced thin and piled on a sesame seed bun. It sold for 69 cents, when a McDonalds hamburger was 19 cents. Their vision was an upscale fast-food restaurant with better food, better ambience, and the best hospitality. The first Arby’s opened in 1964 in Boardman, Ohio. The name came from the initials of their business, Raffel Brothers. They immediately began selling franchises. Arby’s was an instant success.
In 1969, the company faced a number of setbacks and went into Chapter 11, however, Leroy and Forest successfully brought Arby’s back to profitability by following the basics of serving delicious food in a friendly, upscale environment. Leroy and Forrest sold Arby’s in 1976 and retired in 1978. When asked at a franchising seminar how he was able to turn Arby’s around and deal with the stress of Chapter 11, he said “because I’m one tough son of a bitch.”
Leroy was very active in the Jewish community. The CEO of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation said: “Leroy had a quiet confidence, a midwestern sensibility, and a view of the world that was both ordinary and rational. He was also the source of unending encouragement and wise counsel that combined his keen intellect and business acumen with his commitment to Israel and the Jewish people.”
He will be dearly missed by all who had the pleasure of knowing him.
The family requests contributions in memory of Leroy B. Raffel can be made to the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, https://jewishmiami.org/. A funeral will be held on Friday, March 24 at 11:30 a.m. at Lakeside Memorial Park, 10301 NW 25th St, Doral, FL 33172. Arrangements by Levitt-Weinstein Blasberg-Rubin-Zilbert Memorial Chapel (305) 932-2700
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