Jerry Bear was described by his son as “incredibly caring,” willing to help those he knew and those he didn’t.
And he was a father not only to his own four sons but to the thousands of McDonald’s employees who worked for him in the six decades in which his business grew from one restaurant on Larkin Avenue in Elgin to two dozen throughout the northwest suburbs, David Bear said.
Jerry Bear, who died May 17 at the age of 86, “always saw the cup as half full” and was always looking for ways to fill it, his son said.
“He gave (people) confidence in doing things they didn’t know they could do,” David Bear said.
Jerry Bear and his wife, Marcelle, got into the fast-food restaurant business in 1967 when they purchased the first McDonald’s built in Elgin from the McDonald’s Corp. According to the online Bear Family Restaurants history, it was one of the few businesses across the street from Larkin High School at the time.
Two years later, they purchased the McDonald’s restaurant on Summit Street and in 1978, their third store opened in Streamwood. The expansion continued in the 1980s and 1990s, with more locations in the Elgin area and beyond, the company history said.
The Bears stepped down in 2016 and handed the reins over to sons Marc and David. As of 2019, the South Elgin-based Bear Family Restaurants owns and operates 24 McDonald’s franchises in Elgin, South Elgin, Streamwood, Hoffman Estates, Barrington, Lombard, Bloomingdale, Westchester, La Grange, Elk Grove Village, Schiller Park, Norridge, Mount Prospect and McHenry, according to the company history. The company employs more than 1,200 employees.
Bear is survived by his wife, to whom he was married for 59 years; sons Marc, Brian, David and Kevin; and seven grandchildren.
His memorial service was held Wednesday at Shalom Memorial Funeral Home in Arlington Heights.
His sons spoke highly of their father at his service. Oldest son Brian told those in attendance that when he worked at McDonald’s as a teenager, he was often reminded by his dad to do his job as if his parents didn’t own the business. As a result, he joked that he never took work breaks.
Brian Bear also reflected on his father’s first career as a furniture designer. He made some of the furniture that went into the Playboy offices in Chicago, he said.
“His claim to fame was he designed Hugh Hefner’s round bed,” he joked.
McDonald’s Corp. Chief Financial Officer Spero Droulias also spoke at the memorial service, calling Bear “one of the best owner-operators” he ever met.
Bear was credited with coming up with the idea for double drive-through lanes, Droulias said. That was 30 years ago and now about 70 percent of all U.S. McDonald’s have them, he said.
“Jerry was a man ahead of his time,” he said.
Droulias and Bear had a professional and personal relationship that dated back to the late 1990s, Droulias said. When Droulias and his wife suffered a personal tragedy many years ago, Bear offered them the use of his Florida home, he said.
“Such a heartfelt gesture of kindness and compassion that was so automatic — it left me and my wife speechless,” Droulias said.
Marc Falk, chairman of the South Elgin Economic Development Council, said he has known the Bear family since the early 1990s. He described Bear as “bigger in personality than in stature.” Philanthropy was a big part of Bear’s life, and he always looked for ways to help the community, Falk said.
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One of the areas where Bear’s philanthropic passion showed was education. Bear Family McDonald’s franchises have hosted many “McTeacher’s Nights” over the years to help schools raise money. Bear was “big, big, big into education,” Falk said.
“It’s a huge loss for the community,” he said. “He was a pioneer and certainly someone that led with his heart, helped out the community in truckloads.”
The Bear Family Restaurants were recognized as the Elgin Area Chamber’s 2018 Business of the Year, chamber President/CEO Carol Gieske said. The Bear family has always given back to the communities it serves, she said.
“David and his brother, Marc, have shared stories about growing up in McDonald’s located first across the street from Larkin High School,” Gieske said. “David smiled as he said his dad changed the sign stating how many burgers had been sold by climbing the ladder on the street.”
The South Elgin Economic Development Council offered their condolences to the Bear family on social media Wednesday. The council was co-founded by Bear’s son David.
“Jerry and David have added much to the village of South Elgin, not only with community service but also with longstanding investments in two of South Elgin's McDonald's restaurants,” the Facebook post said. “Rest in peace, Jerry. You will be missed.”
In lieu of flowers, the Bear family asks that donations be made to Bear Family Hebrew School at Las Olas Chabad Jewish Center in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.