thedrifter
02-04-07, 07:38 AM
Victor's founder dies
Jeff Moore THE DAILY IBERIAN
Avid golfer, honest businessman and war hero were some of the ways friends and family members remembered Vernon Huckaby.
Huckaby, founder of Victor's Cafeteria, died Thursday at the age of 84. Funeral services will be held today at First United Methodist Church.
A native of Opelousas, Huckaby came to New Iberia in 1955.
One of the first men he met was neighbor Sherry Lopez, who struck up a friendship and golfing partnership with Huckaby that lasted more than 50 years.
"I liked Vernon from the first day I met him," Lopez said.
"I guess the thing about Vernon I admired most was he was always true to himself. He never took advantage of anybody. He was always fair in business and on the golf course."
Huckaby opened Victor's Cafeteria in 1969, but golf was his passion, Lopez said.
After the restaurant closed, Huckaby would often sneak off for a round or two at Squirrel Run or Sugar Oaks Golf and Country Club.
"We had a regular game we played a couple of times a week," Lopez said. "The only time we didn't play was when it was pouring down raining."
Lopez said Huckaby served as the rules-keeper on the course. When one of his golfing partners had a question, Huckaby always had an answer.
"He was a heck of a competitor on the golf course," said Earl Pesson. "He managed to win when he needed to."
Jim Prejean also golfed with Huckaby after befriending his son, Victor, for whom the restaurant is named.
Prejean said he spent many mornings with Huckaby at the restaurant, where Huckaby took on roles as head chef, manager and greeter.
"He had a wonderful gift for gab. He spoke to everybody who came in," Prejean said. "People enjoyed talking to him because he had such a good personality."
Lopez said one thing Huckaby didn't often discuss was his service in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II.
Huckaby earned the Purple Heart for wounds he suffered at Iwo Jima, a five-mile long island in the South Pacific where nearly one-third of all U.S. Marines killed during the war lost their lives.
"He died in the true spirit of the Marines," said Lopez's wife, Gaelyn. "He didn't want to give up."
Huckaby also had a soft side, as evidenced by a story told by his daughter-in-law.
Catherine Huckaby said she recently spoke with a woman who worked for Huckaby as a teenager when he managed J.W. Low's Dime Store.
"She said she was so afraid - it was her first day - and all he did was make her feel calm and welcomed," she said. "She said usually she was afraid of big men, but not him."
It was that kindness that friends and family members will miss most, said friend and golfing partner Larry Viator.
"I'm sure every time I tee it up or go by the cafeteria I'm going to be thinking about him," Viator said.
Ellie
Jeff Moore THE DAILY IBERIAN
Avid golfer, honest businessman and war hero were some of the ways friends and family members remembered Vernon Huckaby.
Huckaby, founder of Victor's Cafeteria, died Thursday at the age of 84. Funeral services will be held today at First United Methodist Church.
A native of Opelousas, Huckaby came to New Iberia in 1955.
One of the first men he met was neighbor Sherry Lopez, who struck up a friendship and golfing partnership with Huckaby that lasted more than 50 years.
"I liked Vernon from the first day I met him," Lopez said.
"I guess the thing about Vernon I admired most was he was always true to himself. He never took advantage of anybody. He was always fair in business and on the golf course."
Huckaby opened Victor's Cafeteria in 1969, but golf was his passion, Lopez said.
After the restaurant closed, Huckaby would often sneak off for a round or two at Squirrel Run or Sugar Oaks Golf and Country Club.
"We had a regular game we played a couple of times a week," Lopez said. "The only time we didn't play was when it was pouring down raining."
Lopez said Huckaby served as the rules-keeper on the course. When one of his golfing partners had a question, Huckaby always had an answer.
"He was a heck of a competitor on the golf course," said Earl Pesson. "He managed to win when he needed to."
Jim Prejean also golfed with Huckaby after befriending his son, Victor, for whom the restaurant is named.
Prejean said he spent many mornings with Huckaby at the restaurant, where Huckaby took on roles as head chef, manager and greeter.
"He had a wonderful gift for gab. He spoke to everybody who came in," Prejean said. "People enjoyed talking to him because he had such a good personality."
Lopez said one thing Huckaby didn't often discuss was his service in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II.
Huckaby earned the Purple Heart for wounds he suffered at Iwo Jima, a five-mile long island in the South Pacific where nearly one-third of all U.S. Marines killed during the war lost their lives.
"He died in the true spirit of the Marines," said Lopez's wife, Gaelyn. "He didn't want to give up."
Huckaby also had a soft side, as evidenced by a story told by his daughter-in-law.
Catherine Huckaby said she recently spoke with a woman who worked for Huckaby as a teenager when he managed J.W. Low's Dime Store.
"She said she was so afraid - it was her first day - and all he did was make her feel calm and welcomed," she said. "She said usually she was afraid of big men, but not him."
It was that kindness that friends and family members will miss most, said friend and golfing partner Larry Viator.
"I'm sure every time I tee it up or go by the cafeteria I'm going to be thinking about him," Viator said.
Ellie