McDonald’s franchise owner, philanthropist was 92
He founded Ronald McDonald Houses in Austin, Temple.
Harold “Hal” Leverson, a longtime McDonald’s franchise owner and philanthropist, died at age 92 on Wednesday.
Leverson had been a McDonald’s owner and operator for 53 years and founded the Ronald McDonald Houses of Austin and Temple, said Steven Neeley, staff director at Haljohn Inc., the McDonald’s franchise group.
“To my knowledge, he’s the only operator who single-handedly founded two Ronald McDonald Houses,” Neeley said. “He supported them both for many, many years.”
Leverson opened the first McDonald’s in Austin in 1962 at Capital Plaza off Interstate 35.
Leverson and a business partner owned all of the McDonald’s restaurants in Texas from Waco to San Antonio at one point, Neeley said. The Austin Ronald McDonald House opened in 1985.
“He’s looked at as an icon in McDonald’s,” Neeley said.
Charles Carter, an investment advisor representative with Transamerica, was a close friend of Leverson’s for over 20 years.
Carter said he had rented office space from Leverson for the same length of time.
“What amazed me about him and his wife was his devotion to community,” Carter said.
Leverson avoided the public eye but made quiet donations to different charities in Austin and throughout Texas and to the Austin Police Department, Carter said.
“He shunned publicity but gave to the community in ways that people will never realize,” Carter said.
“He didn’t want the personal recognition. He wanted to stay silently behind the scenes.”
According to the Houston regional McDonald’s office, Leverson continued to be engaged in recent years with his 15 restaurants and 850 employees.
“He was very precise in the operation, maintenance and training of his employees and would seek perfection in all levels of the McDonald’s operation, but he was very compassionate with those that he worked for,” Carter said. “He demanded excellence but he was known for his compassion.”
Visitation will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Monday at Cook-Walden Funeral Home, 6100 N. Lamar Blvd.
A funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the funeral home, followed by a burial at Cook-Walden Capital Parks Cemetery at 14501 N. I-35 in Pflugerville.
Leverson helped others and made an impact in his community, Carter said.
“It was hard way back 20 years ago (to have) the amount of disadvantaged people he hired before it was kosher to hire them, the amount of Hispanic and black supervisors that he had on board before it was kosher to have them,” Carter said. “He was always a man probably 10 to 15 years ahead of his time.”
When Leverson began selling some of his McDonald’s locations due to his age, he stipulated that the new owners retain existing managers and employees who wanted to stay, Carter said.
“As far as a franchise owner, he kind of set the mark,” Carter said.
According to his funeral home notice, Leverson was preceded in death by his wife, Frankie Leverson, in 2006; his parents; his brother Theodore and sister-in-law Margret; brother Vernon; and Louise Hedges.
He is survived by his daughter, Connie Wing, and her husband, Kevin; sister-in-law Winifred Leverson of Bismarck, North Dakota; as well as many cousins, nieces, nephews and friends, the obituary said.
Memorial contributions can be made to the Ronald McDonald House of Austin and the Ronald McDonald House of Temple.