![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/packages/flash/multimedia/ICONS/transparent.png)
Waffle House founders Joe Rogers, center, and Tom Forkner greet a longtime customer, John Webb, at a Waffle House restaurant in Norcross, Ga., in 2005.
Ric Feld/Associated Press; thumbnail, Frank Niemeir/Atlanta Journal Constitution, via Associated Press, 2008
Thomas Forkner
Died on April 26, 2017 at age 98
Mr. Forkner and Joseph W. Rogers founded Waffle House, the family restaurant chain known for its hearty food, friendly staff and perpetual business hours. Mr. Rogers died in March.
Notable Deaths 2017
Remembering Mary Tyler Moore, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lewis, David Rockefeller, Trisha Brown, Glen Campbell, Dick Gregory, Edith Windsor, Sam Shepard, Tom Petty and many others who died this year.