Percy Pennington "Frenchy" Creuzot Jr. (May 28, 1924 – June 6, 2010) was a restaurateur who founded Frenchy's Chicken in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

.Creuzot, Percy Pennington Jr. (Frenchy)
" ''

Handbook of Texas The Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) is an American nonprofit educational and research organization dedicated to documenting the history of Texas. It was founded in Austin, Texas, United States, on March 2, 1897. In November 2008, the ...

''. Retrieved on May 1, 2014. Due to his success, he became known as "the

black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

Colonel Sanders Harland David Sanders (September 9, 1890 December 16, 1980) was an American businessman and founder of fast food chicken restaurant chain KFC, Kentucky Fried Chicken (now known as KFC). He later acted as the company's brand ambassador and sym ...

."PERCY 'FRENCHY' CREUZOT: A CREOLE HIT

Archive
. ''

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''. April 30, 1985. Retrieved on May 1, 2014.

Life and business

On May 28, 1924, Creuzot was born in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. His father, Dr. Percy P. Creuzot Sr., was a doctor. Creuzot Jr. served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and received an

honorable discharge A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve. Each country's military has different types of discharge. They are generally based on whether the persons completed their training and the ...

in 1946. In 1949 he graduated from the Hampton Institute, now known as

Hampton University Hampton University is a private, historically black, research university in Hampton, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1868 as Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, it was established by Black and White leaders of the American Missiona ...

. In the 1950s he worked as an insurance agent. Creuzot stated he was losing money selling insurance, so he moved to Houston. In Houston Creuzot initially wanted to establish a Louisiana-style sausage business, but he found that it would be more costly than he originally believed because the Texas and federal authorities had increased regulations on those types of businesses. He arrived in Houston in 1965.Turner, Allan.
Frenchy's founder Percy Creuzot dies at 86
(Obituary). ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. ...

''. June 7, 2010. Retrieved on April 21, 2014. Herff-Jones Jewelry, an

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-based manufacturing company of high school graduation supplies hired Creuzot as a salesperson for the black high schools in Houston. On the side, Creuzot sold New Orleans-style sno-balls. After

desegregation Racial integration, or simply integration, includes desegregation (the process of ending systematic racial segregation), leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity regardless of race, and the development of a culture that draws ...

allowed employees to serve schools of any race, the company reduced its workforce and laid off Creuzot. Creuzot found that his new job at the

Texas Workforce Commission The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) is a governmental agency in the U.S. state of Texas that provides unemployment benefits and services related to employment to eligible individuals and businesses. For employers, TWC offers recruiting, retenti ...

did not pay enough to "buy the grits and grease" and he "wanted to live a little better." Creuzot established Frenchy's in 1969. Prior to the opening of the restaurant, Creuzot was not known by the nickname "Frenchy". He gained the nickname "Frenchy's" because people associated the name of the restaurant with him. By 1985 Creuzot had purchased property in

Galveston Galveston ( ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal resort town, resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island (Texas), Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a pop ...

. On Sunday June 6, 2010, Creuzot died of a stroke, at age 86. His funeral was held at St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church. His grave is located at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Houston.

Philanthropy and other efforts

Creuzot constantly supported

Texas Southern University Texas Southern University (Texas Southern or TSU) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically Black university in Houston. The university is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund an ...

(TSU).

Governor of Texas The governor of Texas is the head of state of the U.S. state of Texas. The governor is the head of the executive branch of the government of Texas and is the commander-in-chief of the Texas Military Forces. Established in the Constit ...

Bill Clements William Perry Clements Jr. (April 13, 1917 – May 29, 2011) was an American businessman and Republican Party politician who served two nonconsecutive terms as the governor of Texas between 1979 and 1991. His terms bookended the sole ...

appointed Creuzot to the board of regents. He eventually was elected vice chair, and he served for twelve years. He also served on the board of directors of Catholic Charities. In addition he was a member of restaurant associations at the Houston, Texas, and national levels and he also was a member of the Houston Citizens Review Board. In 1986

Mayor of Houston The following is a list of people who have served as mayor of the city of Houston in the U.S. state of Texas. Qualifications, election, and terms To file to run for mayor, a person must be a qualified voter of the city of Houston, and have h ...

Kathy Whitmire Kathryn Jean Whitmire (née Niederhofer; born August 15, 1946) is an American politician, businesswoman, and accountant best known as the first woman to serve as Mayor of Houston, serving for five consecutive two-year terms from 1982 to 1992. Fr ...

appointed Creuzot to be one of the 16 members of her "Visions for Houston" panel.Levinson, Brian. "Frenchy's Restaurants files for Chapter 11 protection." ''

''. Friday, May 1, 1987. Business p. 1. Retrieved on May 1, 2014. Available at Newsbank, Record Number: HSC0501459764. It may be accessed online using a

Houston Public Library Houston Public Library is the public library system serving Houston, Texas, United States. History Houston Lyceum and the Carnegie Library The Houston Public Library system traces its founding to the creation of the second Houston Lyceum in ...

library card. Creuzot had an affiliation with the Greater Houston Visitors & Convention Center, and he was a member of the

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...

(NAACP). He was a member of the Knights of St. Peter Claver and the

fraternities A fraternity (; whence, " brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club or fraternal order traditionally of men but also women associated together for various religious or secular aims. Fraternity in the Western conce ...

Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the ...

and

Sigma Pi Phi Sigma Pi Phi (), also known as The Boulé, is an African American professional fraternity. Founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1904, it is the oldest Greek lettered fraternity for African Americans. The fraternity does not have collegiate ...

. Creuzot gave money to Hampton University, TSU, the NAACP, the

United Negro College Fund UNCF, the United Negro College Fund, also known as the United Fund, is an American philanthropic organization that funds scholarships for black students and general scholarship funds for 37 private historically black colleges and universities. ...

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

, and

Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier had an enrollment of approximately 5,600 undergraduate an ...

Personal life

He married Sallie Coleman in 1947 and had three children: Percy III, Angele, and John C. Percy III became the owner of the original Frenchy's, and for a period Angele operated a Frenchy's on South Shepherd in

Neartown Montrose is an area located in west-central Houston, Texas, United States and is one of the city's major cultural areas. Montrose is a area roughly bounded by Interstate 69/U.S. Highway 59 to the south, Allen Parkway to the north, South Shepher ...

.Boisseau, Charles. "Black-owned firms run gamut from struggle to success." ''

''. Monday, July 29, 1991. Business p. 2. Available at NewsBank, Record Number 07*29*799745. Available online from the

with a library card. John C. Creuzot became a state district judge; and was later elected the District Attorney of Dallas County, Texas, in 2018. Creuzot also had 3 sisters, Alexa Delahoussaye, Hortense Turner, and Martina Cox. After his death, he was survived by his sister Martina, wife, and children. He was also a life-long Catholic who served on the board of the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.

References

External links

* Coleman, Monica.
Remembering Percy Frenchy Creuzot Jr.

Archive
. ''

Houston Defender The ''Houston Defender (Network)'' is a Black digital information source that originated from the African American newspaper of the same name based in Houston, Texas. Established in 1930 by C.F. Richardson Sr., the newspaper has been a strong v ...

''. June 14, 2010. *
Percy P. Creuzot, Jr.

Archive
. '' Houston Intown''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Creuzot, Percy 1924 births 2010 deaths 20th-century African-American businesspeople 20th-century Roman Catholics 21st-century African-American businesspeople 21st-century Roman Catholics African-American Catholics American restaurateurs American Roman Catholics Businesspeople from Houston Businesspeople from New Orleans Catholics from Texas Catholics from Louisiana Hampton University alumni Knights of Peter Claver & Ladies Auxiliary Louisiana Creole people United States Navy personnel of World War II

Life and business

Philanthropy and other efforts

Personal life

See also

References

External links