Golden Krust founder mourned in Bx. at 1st store
DOZENS OF mourners gathered outside a Golden Krust eatery in the Bronx on Saturday to pay homage to the company founder who took his own life.
As DJs played Caribbean beats and cooks doled out cups of chicken noodle soup, friends and loved ones offered gushing tributes to Lowell Hawthorne.
“He’s kind, he’s successful, but never got so big to not stop for the common man,” said his sister-in-law Herma Hawthorne, 61.
“We have lost an icon. We have lost a mentor. We have lost a man who makes others look on their lives and say, ‘I can do more, I can succeed, I can do better.’ ”
The 57-year-old Hawthorne shot himself in the head inside his Golden Krust factory in Claremont on Dec. 2.
The married father of four’s suicide sent shock waves from the streets of the Bronx to the hills of his Jamaican homeland.
As the sky darkened Saturday, streams of mourners paused in front of a mural dedicated to Hawthorne that was hung outside Golden Krust’s first store on E. Gun Hill Road. A candlelight vigil was held simultaneously in Jamaica, the company said.
“He provided a blueprint for successful businesses,” said Bronx City Councilman Andy King, who lauded Hawthorne for always donating his tasty creations at community events.
“I'm sure he's sitting at the Pearly Gates, and as we say, ‘Jah well done my son.’ ”
Before he took his life, Hawthorne was known for his raspy voice and remarkable ragsto-riches story.
A one-time NYPD accountant, Hawthorne pooled money with relatives to open the first Golden Krust store in 1989.
The meat pie mecca was inspired by his father’s humble bakery back home in a tiny hilltop town in Jamaica.
Hawthorne grew his business into one of the city’s most notable Caribbean success stories. He opened 16 additional stores in the city before launching a franchise operation in 1996.
Some 21 years later, Golden Krust boasts more than 120 restaurants in nine states.
Hawthorne’s funeral will be held at Brooklyn’s Christian Cultural Center on Tuesday, Dec. 19.