<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1607029886365.png" alt="Frank Carney, right, and his brother, Dan, stand outside the first Pizza Hut restaurant. Frank died Dec. 2 at the age of 82. Courtesy" />
 <figcaption>Frank Carney, right, and his brother, Dan, stand outside the first Pizza Hut restaurant. Frank died Dec. 2 at the age of 82. Courtesy</figcaption>
 </figure>By TOM SHINE <a href="https://www.kmuw.org/post/pizza-hut-co-founder-frank-carney-remembered-entrepreneurial-spirit">Kansas News Service</a>When Wichita University students Frank and Dan Carney opened their first Pizza Hut, they had simple ambitions."In
 1958, we started it to pay our way through college," Frank Carney said 
in an interview from the 1970s, after the company had grown into the 
largest pizza restaurant chain in the world.Frank Carney, a legendary Wichita entrepreneur, died Wednesday. He was 82.Kansas
 Gov. Laura Kelly said Carney was "one of Kansas' most notable 
entrepreneurs," and Sedgwick County Commission Chairman Pete Meitzner 
called him "a fantastic person" whose company "created incredible value 
for our community and worldwide."Pizza Hut was a source of local
 pride for Wichitans for decades, even after it was acquired by PepsiCo 
in 1977. It was mentioned along with other venerable Wichita business 
brands as Beech, Cessna, Coleman, Learjet and Koch.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1607029944125.png" alt=" Frank Carney, right, and his brother, Dan, founded Pizza Hut in 1958 when they were students at what was then the University of Wichita. Credit Courtesy Dan Carney" />
 <figcaption> Frank Carney, right, and his brother, Dan, founded Pizza Hut in 1958 when they were students at what was then the University of Wichita. Credit Courtesy Dan Carney</figcaption>
 </figure>The Carney brothers borrowed $600 from their mother to open their 
first restaurant in 1958 at Kellogg and Bluff. They named it "Pizza Hut"
 because the sign on the building only had room for eight letters. The 
original restaurant is now a museum on the Wichita State University 
campus, filled with personal memorabilia from the Carneys.Bill 
Kentling, then a college student, worked alongside Carney in the 
original Pizza Hut in 1959. He later worked with him in the company’s 
towering corporate headquarters in east Wichita.When Carney and a group of investors bought the Wichita Wings indoor soccer team, Kentling became the team’s general manager.He said part of Pizza Hut’s success was that the Carney brothers were always looking ahead."Frank
 and Dan Carney always knew the next logical step," Kentling said. 
"Whether that was a new product, a decision to put in a salad bar or to 
have different kinds of crusts, they always knew the next logical step."I've never known Frank Carney to not do the right thing."<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1607029970068.png" alt="Frank, left, and Dan Carney / courtesy photo" />
 <figcaption>Frank, left, and Dan Carney / courtesy photo</figcaption>
 </figure>The Carney brothers began franchising the restaurant a year after it 
opened, initially to friends and acquaintances. By 1971, it was the 
largest pizza chain in the world and dominated the industry for decades.Today, Pizza Hut has more than 19,000 restaurants in 100 countries, though Domino’s has surpassed it in terms of revenue.Carney later became an owner in some Papa John’s pizza franchises.Kentling
 said Carney’s legacy will include "helping make Wichita famous, whether
 that was with Pizza Hut or the Wichita Wings or his devotion to Wichita
 State University.""This is a guy who never moved to Boston or LA or Chicago. He lived out his life in Wichita, Kansas."

Pizza Hut co-founder remembered for entrepreneurial spirit