Norman Brinker, who was an alternate with the United States show jumping team at the 1952 Summer Olympic Games in Helsinki, passed away due to pneumonia while on vacation in Colorado.

Brinker was born in Denver, CO, on June 3, 1931, to Kathryn and Eugene Brinker. He helped his family at a young age by buying and selling horses and a variety of other jobs. He attended the New Mexico Military Institute in high school, served in the Navy, and graduated from San Diego State University in 1957. In 1954, he competed in the pentathlon world championships in Budapest. In June 1955, he married Maureen Connolly, who was the first female tennis player to win all four Grand Slam tournaments in the same year.

Brinker contributed greatly to the restaurant business, which he got into in the 1950s. He helped expand Jack in the Box, and was named president of that company. He started up Steak and Ale, popularized the salad bar concept, and later sold the chain to Pillsbury. At Pillsbury, he ran Steak and Ale and also Bennigan's Grill and Tavern. He also took over operations for Burger King as chairman of the second-largest food-service operator.

But his greatest contribution was taking a group of hamburger restaurants and developing them into Chili's Grill and Bar.

In 1993, a polo accident at the West Palm Beach Polo and Hunt Club in Wellington, Fla., left him with 32 broken bones, in a coma for several weeks, and paralyzed on one side for almost three months. But he was back at work within six months. In 1996, Donald Phillips helped him publish his memoir, "On the Brink: The Life and Leadership of Norman Brinker." The famous restaurateur retired in 2001.