Published: October 28, 2009 10:12 pm      

Edmond funeral service planned for Sonic founder

EDMOND — Family and friends are preparing a local church funeral to say goodbye to Troy N. Smith Sr., the founder of Sonic, America’s Drive-In.

The funeral for Smith will be at 2 p.m. Friday at the First Christian Church of Edmond, with interment at Memorial Park Cemetery. Smith, an Edmond resident, died Monday at age 87 following a brief illness.

Ralph Mason, who has known Smith for 47 years, described him as a “quiet, humble genius.”

“Troy is probably an unknown giant of Oklahoma business because of his quiet demeanor, but Sonic is a nationally known and publicly traded company,” Mason said.

“Not only did he give us the opportunity to have Sonic franchises, he taught us how to run them in a profitable and ethical way,” said Mason, a Sonic franchise owner. “He positively influenced the lives of thousands of people, and he has given us opportunities to have a better financial life than we would have had without him.”

“Troy Smith’s impact will be felt at the University of Central Oklahoma for years to come,” University of Central Oklahoma President W. Roger Webb said in a statement. “He and his wife, Dollie’s, generosity shines in the bright futures of our students who benefit from the opportunities they have helped create here. The Central family grieves with Dollie, Troy Jr., Leslie and the rest of the Smith family at his loss, and is glad to have called this Oklahoma pioneer a friend.”

In January 2007, the Smiths donated $3 million worth of Sonic Corporation stock to UCO, the single largest unrestricted cash gift in the school’s history. Son Troy “Butch” Smith Jr. currently serves on the UCO Foundation board.

Born in 1922, Troy Smith Sr. grew up in the oil patch in east central Oklahoma, attending Mountain View School and Seminole High School. In 1940, he married his sweetheart, Dollie Twiggs, before going into the Army Air Corps in 1943.

When World War II ended, Smith returned to his wife and two small children in Oklahoma. He drove a milk truck and then a bread truck as he pursued his goal of owning his own business.

Between 1948 and 1953, Smith tried various restaurant concepts, at times while running his bread route in Shawnee. He first operated a small diner called The Cottage Cafe. A year later, he sold the cafe and opened a larger restaurant called Troy’s Grill, featuring Troy’s Panful O’Chicken.

A loyal Troy’s Grill customer asked Smith to co-own a root beer stand and convert an old log home on the same property into an upscale steak house. Smith liked the location of the businesses and the idea of running a fine dining restaurant. In 1953, Smith and his partner were operating the Top Hat root beer stand and the Log House Restaurant in Shawnee.

Learning that profits were limited in a high-end restaurant, Smith left the Log House Restaurant and ended the partnership in 1955. The Top Hat’s profit margins were four times greater than those of the steak house. Smith eventually put all of his efforts into the root beer stand while looking for a better way to make money in the restaurant business. He found a way with the drive-in.

Smith pioneered the use of angled and covered parking, along with an intercom speaker system that allowed customers to place orders from their cars. “Service With the Speed of Sound,” became the tagline for the Top Hat.

Over the next six years, Smith, in partnership with Charlie Pappe of Woodward, opened Top Hats in three other Oklahoma communities, Stillwater, Woodward and Enid. The Top Hat concept took off and the pair found themselves fielding queries from interested entrepreneurs who wanted the chance to run their own businesses.

An attempt to copyright the Top Hat name in 1958 failed, so Smith and Pappe looked up “speed of sound” in the dictionary and discovered the word “sonic.” The first Top Hat to adopt the fledgling chain’s new name was in Stillwater. From that point on, Sonic Drive-Ins began popping up in small towns throughout Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and Arkansas. Today, there are nearly 3,600 Sonic Drive-Ins located in 42 states.

Smith’s entrepreneurial spirit, his pragmatic, no-nonsense approach to the business and his desire to create opportunities for others earned him many friends and admirers over his lifetime.

He is survived by his wife of almost 70 years, Dollie Twiggs Smith; his daughter, Leslie Baugh; his son, Troy “Butch” Smith Jr., eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

Services are under the direction of Matthews Funeral Home.

Donations may be made in Smith’s name to the University of Central Oklahoma Foundation, www.ucogiving.org, or Integris Health Foundation, 3030 N.W. Expressway, Suite 1600, Oklahoma City, OK, 73112. Please designate gifts to The Troy and Dollie Smith Wellness Center.



ktoppins@edmondsun.com | 341-2121, ext. 112