OKLAHOMA CITY --- The man who took a Shawnee root beer stand and grew it into industry-leading Sonic drive-ins has died.
Troy Smith was 87.
He bought Top Hat Drive-In in 1953, worked on a system of controlled parking, carhops and intercoms.
The company changed its name in 1959 to Sonic to play off the company motto, "Service at the speed of sound." Smith also worked on the franchise system.
Sonic is now an Oklahoma City-based, 600-million-dollar company with 36-hundred drive-ins serving more than a million customers a day.
Smith and his wife, Dollie, are also known as generous philanthropists in Shawnee and Edmund.

(Copyright 2009 by VERTEXNews/Newsroom Solutions)