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KFC® in the News |
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KFC® in the News |
Contacts:
Laura Melillo (502) 456-8042
Jeannie Litterst (502) 456-8366
Shirley Topmiller (502) 456-8352
WIDOW OF
KFC FOUNDER DIES
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CLAUDIA SANDERS HELPED THE COLONEL BUILD KFC INTO AN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (January 1, 1997) -- Claudia Ledington Sanders of Shelbyville, Ky., who helped her husband Colonel Harland D. Sanders build the world-famous Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant chain, died yesterday at the age of 94.
Funeral arrangements are being handled by Hall-Taylor Funeral Home, 1185 W. Main in Shelbyville, Ky. Visitation is scheduled at the funeral home from 3:00-9:00 p.m. Friday, Jan. 3. The funeral will be held Saturday, Jan. 4 at 2:00 p.m. at the First Christian Church, 400 Main St. in Shelbyville, with interment at Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville, next to her late husband. The family has requested that expressions of sympathy be in the form of donations to the First Christian Church of Shelbyville or to charity.
Claudia Sanders, a longtime Shelbyville resident, married Harland Sanders in 1948 and worked closely with him until his death at in 1980 to establish and promote what is today the world’s most popular chicken restaurant chain.
Although Colonel Sanders developed his recipe for Kentucky Fried Chicken in 1939, it was four years after his marriage to Claudia that the Colonel enlisted his first Kentucky Fried Chicken franchisee in 1952. Mrs. Sanders worked with her husband as he built KFC from two restaurants in 1952 to more than 600 in 1964, when they sold the company. Today there are more than 9,800 KFC restaurants in 73 countries.
“We’re deeply saddened by the loss of Claudia Sanders,” said David Novak, group president and CEO of KFC and Pizza Hut. “We could not have been the company we are now without Claudia’s contributions. Claudia’s commitment to Kentucky Fried Chicken and her work as goodwill ambassador inspired our franchisees and employees alike. We shall miss her.”
When Colonel Sanders began franchising his successful Original Recipe® chicken and cooking processes, he took to the road to persuade restaurant owners to sell his chicken. Mrs. Sanders often travelled with him and acted as hostess, wearing an antebellum gown, while the Colonel cooked chicken in the restaurant kitchen. Later they would circulate among the diners asking how they enjoyed the chicken.
Colonel Sanders once compared the way he
and Mrs. Sanders prepared his special blend of 11 herbs and
spices to the complex company procedures used today:
“It boggles the mind just to think of all the procedures and
precautions the company takes to protect my recipe, especially
when I think how Claudia and I used to operate. She was my
packing girl, my warehouse supervisor, my delivery person —
you name it. Our garage was the warehouse.”
When Colonel Sanders was on the road, Mrs. Sanders would fill orders for the seasoning mix. She would prepare the day’s orders, package them for shipment and put them on a midnight train to franchisees. The Colonel would often speak of “still seeing Claudia in my mind’s eye, going down to that dark railroad depot to put the spices on the midnight freight.”
Mrs. Sanders was born Claudia Ellen Ledington Sept. 7, 1902 in Knox County, Ky. She married Harland Sanders on Nov. 18, 1948. Both had children from previous marriages.
Mrs. Sanders was preceded in death by her daughter Billie Jean Johnson and her granddaughter Deborah Lynn Johnson. She is survived by a son, Elvis Ray Price, of London, Ky., and by four sisters and two brothers. They are: Joyce Hunt, Shelbyville, Ky.; Rose Brown and Mary Holt, both of Corbin, Ky.; Thelma Hetkowski, Detroit, Mich.; Robert Ledington and B. F. Ledington, both of Corbin, Ky.
Mrs. Sanders was a member of the First Christian Church of Shelbyville, the Business and Professional Women’s Club, and Daughters of the Nile, Opelika Temple in Lexington. She served on the board of directors of Union College, Barbourville, Ky., and Colonel Sanders Kentucky Fried Chicken, Ltd. of Canada. She was also an honorary chairwoman of the National March of Dimes.
Kentucky Fried Chicken Corp. (KFC), based in Louisville, Ky., is the world’s most popular chicken restaurant chain. Since its founding by Colonel Harland Sanders in 1952, KFC has been “America’s Leading Kitchen For Convenient Meals,” serving delicious, already-prepared complete family meals at affordable prices to nearly seven million customers each day. KFC is a subsidiary of PepsiCo, Inc., Purchase, N.Y. (PEP).