.svg?width=1280&auto=webp&quality=95&format=jpg&disable=upscale "Nation's Restaurant News")
Ron Ruggless
DALLAS Nearly 2,000 people gathered Monday at a memorial service here to honor the life of casual-dining pioneer Norman Brinker.
Such luminaries as Dallas businessman and onetime presidential candidate Ross Perot, Brinker International Inc. chief executive Doug Brooks and Outback Steakhouse co-founder Tim Gannon joined family and friends in honoring the legendary restaurateur. Brinker died June 9 of complications from pneumonia.
Perot, who met Brinker in 1966 after the opening of Steak & Ale and later was a groomsman at Brinker’s wedding to his wife, Toni, led the group in a rousing “Hip Hip Hooray” cheer that vibrated through the sedate Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas.
“He lived the Texas cowboy phrase, ‘You can’t lick a man who won’t give up,’” said Perot, referring to Brinker’s health scares since his 1993 polo accident. “Norman was a great business leader. He got everyone to reach the stars.”
Gannon described Brinker as "the quintessential team player” both on the polo grounds and in business. While he was a fierce competitor, Gannon said, “his only type of play was fair play.”
Brooks said that after hearing of Brinker’s death, he looked in a file box that contained notes Brinker had written him throughout the years. He counted 53.
“Imagine the thousands and thousands of notes he wrote through the years,” Brooks said.
Other speakers at the service included Brinker's daughter Brenda Brinker Bottum, 13-year-old grandson William Simmons, Dallas businessman Pete Schenkel and former sportscaster Scott Murray.
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra played segments from Handel’s “Music for the Royal Fireworks” and Rossini’s “William Tell Overture.”
In honor of Brinker, the ardent equestrian, the final selection was “Happy Trails.”
Brinker is survived by his wife, Toni; five children; and six grandchildren.
Contact Ron Ruggless at [email protected].
