Col. Sanders’ Widow, Claudia, Dies At 94

Claudia Sanders, the widow of fried chicken legend Col. Harland Sanders and a restaurateur in her own right, died at her home Tuesday. She was 94.

Even before they married in 1949, Mrs. Sanders had begun helping the man known simply as “the Colonel” to build a business that became a fastfood empire. She met Sanders in the 1930s while working as a waitress in his first restaurant in Corbin, the Sanders Cafe.

By 1963, the Sanders’ had 600 chicken outlets and was taking in about $1,000 a day.

When they married, Mrs. Sanders had two children and Sanders had three. The family lived in Corbin, where the Colonel perfected his chicken recipe and opened another restaurant.

Mrs. Sanders recounted in an 1991 interview how restaurants in other states would phone in orders and she would package up the food and spices and take it to the train station, often late at night, for the next train out.