Lovie Yancey

Lovie Yancey (January 3 1912 – January 26 2008) was the American founder of the Fatburger restaurant chain. She originally owned a small restaurant in Tucson. In 1947 she founded Fatburger under its original name Mr. Fatburger. In 1952, Yancey shed both her business partners and the "Mr." in the hamburger stand's name, and Fatburger was officially born. From the beginning, Yancey was a fixture at the original Fatburger, where customers, who included entertainers such as Redd Foxx and Ray Charles, could custom-order their burgers. Yancey always claimed "I don't worry about McDonald's, Burger King or Wendy's, They may be more popular, but a good hamburger sells itself, and I don't think anybody makes as good a hamburger as we do."

Yancey sold her Fatburger company to an investment group in 1990 but retained control of the original property on Western Avenue. She established a $1.7-million endowment at City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte in 1986 for research into sickle-cell anemia. This was in fulfillment of a promise to her 22-year-old grandson, Duran Farrell, who had died of the disease three years earlier.

On 26 January when Yancey died of pneumonia. In addition to her daughter, Yancey is survived by three grandchildren and five great-grandchildren [ [http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-yancey2feb02,1,4374033.story Lovie Yancey, 96; founder of Fatburger restaurant chain - Los Angeles Times ] ] .

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* [http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-yancey2feb02,1,4374033.story Los Angeles Times: Lovie Yancey, 96; founder of Fatburger restaurant chain]