American restaurant entrepreneur. Born to James Donald and Helen (German) Near in Columbus, Ohio, he started his restaurant career as a 15-year-old cook for a local Burger Boy Restaurant. He continued to work for Burger Boy throughout his high school and college years and late became vice president of the chain after graduating from Hanover College in Indiana. When Borden Inc. acquired Burger Boy in 1969, he became president of Borden's retail sales division. In 1974, he left Borden to become a Wendy's franchisee and developed 39 restaurants in four years in Florida and West Virginia. After selling those restaurants to Wendy's, he started the Sisters Chicken & Biscuits restaurant chain, which he sold to Wendy's in 1981. He then served as president and chief operating officer of Sisters International Inc. until 1986, when he became president and chief operating officer of Wendy's, and later became CEO in 1989 and chairman in 1991. During his tenure as Wendy's president, he turned the struggling chain around. He focused on the core hamburgers, chicken, and salads, reshuffled its offerings, and introduced value item menus and specialty sandwiches. He also focused on store-level operations, beefing up training and operational structure while cutting costs at headquarters. For his accomplishments, he was voted MUSFO Operator of the Year in 1992. He ran day-to-day operations of Wendy's until 1995, but maintaining his chairman title. He divided his final years between homes in Columbus, Ohio and Bonita Springs, Florida, with no history of health problems. On July 22, 1996, while staying in Atlanta's Downtown Hilton Hotel to attend the Olympic Games, he suddenly complained of chest pains in the morning and collapsed while walking to a first aid station. He was taken to Crawford Long Hospital of Emory University, where he was pronounced dead at 11:25 am.

Wendy's founder Dave Thomas, whom Near had encouraged to become the company's advertising spokesperson, said, "He was a great man and my best friend. He knew more about restaurants than anyone else I know. He loved the hustle and bustle of a busy restaurant, and his passion for the customers and employees was evident to everyone who met him. That will be his legacy. I'll miss him dearly."

Gordon F. Teter, who succeeded Near as CEO, chief operating officer, and president, said, "Jim has been an outstanding leader at Wendy's and throughout the industry. His passion for restaurant operations and taking care of every customer were the driving force behind Wendy's remarkable success over the past decade. He taught all of us how to be better operators."

Cause of death: Heart attack