Editing Ron Joyce (section)

== Early life and career ==
Born on October 19, 1930<ref>Financial Post Directory of Directors (2000)</ref> and raised in [[Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia|Tatamagouche]], Nova Scotia, Joyce moved to [[Hamilton, Ontario|Hamilton]], Ontario, at age 16, to seek better living conditions than those of post-war Nova Scotia. He worked a number of odd jobs until eventually enlisting in the [[Royal Canadian Navy]], in 1951, where he was trained as a wireless operator. In 1956, Joyce joined the [[Hamilton Police Service]] and served as a police officer until 1965. Once, while on patrol with Colin Millar<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.thespec.com/news-story/7044616-former-Hamilton-police-chief-Colin-millar-has-died/| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170101061533/http://www.thespec.com/news-story/7044616-former-hamilton-police-chief-colin-millar-has-died/| archive-date = 2017-01-01| title = Former Hamilton police chief Colin Millar has died}}</ref> (who would later become Chief Constable of the Hamilton Police Service), he responded to a distress call and delivered a baby. 

Joyce decided to get involved in the newly emerging food-service industry and, in 1963, purchased a [[Dairy Queen]] [[Franchising|franchise]] in Hamilton. He wanted to open up another Dairy Queen, but the city declined licensure for a second location. Joyce subsequently decided to open a coffee shop when he saw a "For Sale" sign posted on a store.

Joyce entered a franchise partnership with Tim Horton in 1967, and reportedly wrote "You must be kidding!" in reference to the clause of the one-page franchise agreement requiring rent in advance.{{citation needed|date=January 2016}} After Horton's 1974 death in an auto accident,<ref name=hdshhw>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=UXowAAAAIBAJ&pg=1014%2C1700712 |newspaper=Montreal Gazette |agency=Canadian Press |title=Horton's death shocks hockey world; |date=February 22, 1974 |page=30}}</ref><ref name=hwmdoth>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ws9dAAAAIBAJ&pg=970%2C3995900
|newspaper=Observer-Reporter  |location=Washington, Pennsylvania |agency=Associated Press |title=Hockey world morning death of Tim Horton |date=February 22, 1974 |page=B2 }}</ref><ref name=exmhsd>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zctRAAAAIBAJ&pg=6279%2C2828525 |newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |title=Horton killed in crash; ex-mates here saddened |date=February 22, 1974 |page=11}}</ref> Joyce purchased Horton's share for about $1 million, and assumed control of the full Tim Hortons franchise.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/horton-widow-dead-at-68-1.228926|title=Horton widow dead at 68|author=CBC Sports|publisher=CBC|date=December 26, 2000|access-date=June 30, 2014}}</ref>

Joyce hired a management team and began to franchise the company throughout the late 1970s until the 1990s. During the early 1990s, Danny Murphy, a franchise owner of both Tim Hortons coffee shops and [[Wendy's International|Wendy's]] fast food restaurants in [[Prince Edward Island]] wanted to combine both franchises under one roof in a new development in [[Montague, Prince Edward Island|Montague]]. Murphy asked Joyce and Wendy's founder, [[Dave Thomas (American businessman)|Dave Thomas]], to be present for the opening.

In 1995, Wendy's and Tim Hortons merged and Joyce became the combined company's largest shareholder; the firms later separated.