Howard Deering Johnson

Howard Dearing Johnson was an entrepreneur, businessman, and the founder of an American chain of restaurants and motels under one company of the same name, Howard Johnsons.

Howard Johnson was born in Boston, Massachusetts and only finished elementary school because he began to work in his fathers cigar business. He served during World War I in the American Expeditionary Force in France. His father died and left him a business that was in debt. He ran the cigar store until 1924 when he liquidated it, but he could not erase the US10,000 debt. He entered the restaurant industry in order to pay off what remained after he sold the cigar venture.

Source: Wikipedia