placement of a star on the Anaheim/Orange County Walk of Stars. Personal life Karcher was a devout Catholic and an active member of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. He attended mass daily at St. Boniface Catholic Church in Anaheim prior to going to work at his office. Carl and Margaret had 12 children. Their son, Jerome T. Karcher, who is a priest in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange, received the Man of Character Award from the Boy Scouts of America for founding Mercy House in Orange County for the homeless. Political activities Karcher was a lifelong supporter of conservative causes and was known to lead the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag at the beginning of CKE board meetings. Karcher was an early supporter of John Schmitz, a Republican and member of the John Birch Society, who represented Orange County in the California State Senate and later Congress. Schmitz was the presidential nominee of the American Independent Party in 1972. In 1978, he contributed US$1 million to California's Proposition 6 initiative, also known as the Briggs Initiative, which would have banned LGBT people from serving in California public schools. He was the initiative's biggest financial supporter. References A remarkable lunch with Carl Karcher 1917 births 2008 deaths American food company founders Fast-food chain founders John Birch Society members California Republicans People from Anaheim, California CKE Restaurants Burials in Orange County, California Neurological disease deaths in California Deaths from Parkinson's disease American people of Belgian descent American people of German descent American chief executives of food industry companies People from Upper Sandusky, Ohio Catholics from California Catholics from Ohio