http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/109022857970240.xml
Barbecue icon Johnny Ray dead at 80 Monday, July 19, 2004 SHERRI C. GOODMAN News staff writer Johnny Ray, founder of Johnny Ray's Bar-B-Que, died Saturday after a career that established him as a pioneer among Birmingham's barbecue elite. Mr. Ray was 80 and died in Panama City Beach while vacationing with his family, said Richard Duell, a Birmingham attorney who helped Ray expand his business through franchising. Mr. Ray opened the first Johnny Ray's in Roebuck in 1953, said Duell, and the restaurant's barbecue, lemon pie, onion rings and sweet tea quickly developed a loyal following. Mr. Ray took his brother-in-law's recipe for barbecue and fiddled with it to create the signature sweet sauce that accompanies beef, chicken and pork in the chain's eight central Alabama restaurants, said John Simonetti, who operates two of the restaurants. But the restaurant's pies, created from the recipes of his wife, Honey Ray, draw just as many customers. "He is one of the most important personalities in barbecue," said Scott Walton, an area financial planner who is co-author of the "Glove Box Guides to Barbecue" series. Mr. Ray was the first Birmingham barbecue restaurant owner to start a successful franchise, Walton said. `He was meticulous': Mr. Ray's reputation and dedication to quality helped propel the chain, Duell said. "He was meticulous" when it came to preparing the food and insisted on teaching the franchisees himself how to prepare the meats and sauce. "He was the type of person that could go into a (restaurant) and could tell them immediately if they needed help and could do it in a way everybody appreciated," Duell said. Mr. Ray's personality helped set Johnny Ray's apart from other barbecue restaurants, said Jefferson County Commission President Larry Langford, who has been a regular customer at the Valley Avenue restaurant for nearly 20 years. "He was a really class gentleman," Langford said. "He knew me by name and he knew what I wanted," said Langford. "I would walk in the place, and he would say `Langford's here, open-faced barbecue chicken sandwich with extra sauce and toast the inside of the bun so it looks like him,' " Langford recalled, adding that he often talked politics with Mr. Ray. "He knew my career better than I did," he said. Lots of friends: Over the past six years, Mr. Ray, an avid golfer, started spending less time at the barbecue pit and more time vacationing with his family and on the greens in Florida, Duell said. "He just didn't have enough energy" to continue to oversee and advise all the restaurants, Duell said. His son-in-law, Josh Palmer, who runs the Pelham restaurant, and his daughter, Dee Wood, became more involved in the business, Duell said. But Mr. Ray still made the occasional appearance to check on the restaurants that bore his name. "He had held a franchisee meeting just a couple of months ago," Duell said. "He was a very honorable man," said Simonetti, who bought the Valley Avenue store from Mr. Ray in 1996 and the Vestavia Hills store in 1998. "His word was his bond." Mr. Ray's list of friends included legendary football coaches Bobby Bowden, Shug Jordan and Bear Bryant, said Simonetti. Mr. Ray, Simonetti said, "had more friends than he had hair on his head." ______________________________________________________ RollTideFan - The University of Alabama Athletics Discussion List "Welcome to RollTideFan! Wear a cup!" To join or leave the list or to make changes to your subscription visit http://listinfo.rolltidefan.net
