Bill Simon, Freddy’s Co-Founder, President & CEO

We are sad to share that Freddy’s co-founder Bill Simon has died due to cancer. We are with Bill’s wife (Sally) and their five adult children. We are also with his grandson. Moreover, our hearts are warm for the parents, Frederick L. and Norma Jean Simon, three brothers, and one sister. As we know, Bill was a wonderful father, husband, grandfather, son, brother, and friend. He was very passionate about his family. He was equally faithful to the Catholic faith and Freddy’s. He always cares for all the team members of Freddy’s.

Bill credited his father, Freddy, for his professional success because he inspired him at a very young age. His father developed an interest in him becoming an entrepreneur. Bill mowed yards and did gardening. His father also created his interest in manufacturing and selling landscaping fixtures. Bill also positively impacted many people’s lives through his professional life. He got an accounting degree from Kansas State University. Then he returned to Wichita and worked for a national CPA firm. After some time, the love of the restaurant industry rose in him. He was working as Vice President of Finance for a Pizza Hut franchisee during this period. After that success, he grew rapidly in the organization of the Rent-A-Center franchise group and was a partner of this Rent-A-Center franchise group when 120 stores were sold to the franchisor. After consecutive successes, Bill moved forward and got the position of interim president at the helm of Wichita’s innovative Center Industries—a branch of the Cerebral Palsy Research Foundation. Bill supported the Cerebral Palsy Research Foundation as a board member. Moreover, he also worked on the advisory board of the Wichita State University Center for Entrepreneurship. He gave his time and resources with his full efforts to many charitable organizations.

In 2002, Bill and his brother Randy founded Freddy’s with his father, Freddy. They had a friend and a business partner, Scott Redler, involved in Freddy’s. Bill was influential from the beginning in creating the culture within Freddy’s family. He developed the concept from a single 2,400-square-foot restaurant to a countrywide chain. He led the company with an example. He provided Freddy with a new vision. In addition, he inspired everyone to work up to their maximum potential.

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