Daisy Mae Pass King

She passed away unexpectedly, Thursday afternoon, March 20, following a short illness. She was barely 80; she had just turned that page at the end of January. She had a lot of living and culinary successes still ahead of her.

She’s tragically gone too soon. An incredibly strong woman, her faith drove “Miss Daisy”, as she was widely and lovingly known. She was not just a Southern treasure, but a national one.

Her life will be celebrated Friday, March 28 at 1 p.m. in the Sanctuary at First Presbyterian Church of Nashville on 4815 Franklin Pike. Visitation will be Thursday, March 27 from 4 to 7 p.m. in the Cheek House adjacent to the sanctuary at First Presbyterian Church of Nashville.

The Buford, Georgia native attended Belmont College, where she met her husband, the late Wayne King. She majored in journalism and home economics. She was born January 30, 1945 to Ila Mae Deaton Pass and Justice Grady Pass.

She arrived in Nashville as a college student armed with an innate southern gentility, the gift of gab, a love of the farm, of growing food and preparing it. She was farm to table long before it was cool. A southern belle, she was acute in business and was a bold entrepreneur. This young farm girl was destined to do well in life.

She always spoke softly and lovingly of her late grandmother, Nara E. Shadburn Pass, who reared her. “She taught me life. My mother died in childbirth. My dad, a banker, died when I was just six years old. My grandparents moved to our farm and took over the reins of raising me with grace and faith. My grandmother taught me to cook. The first thing I made by myself was a five-flavor pound cake. It is still on my menus,” often said the restauranteur, cookbook author and consultant, not just in formal interviews or myriad TV appearances, but in day-to-day conversations with friends, old and new.

Also shaping her life were the late Selma Medlock Cheeley and Joseph Cheeley, Jr. He was appointed her guardian when her father died. The family was active in her childhood, adolescence and adulthood. She treasured each and every member of the Cheeley famiy. She remained, until her death, close to her cousins, Susan Cheeley, Bob Cheeley, Jim Cheeley, John Cheeley and Joseph Cheeley III.

Miss Daisy has owned several restaurants and food emporiums over her storied career. Her first foray into the table service business came with Miss Daisy’s Tea Room in Carter’s Court in historic Downtown Franklin. The doors opened in 1974 with Marilyn and Calvin Lehew as silent partners. He was the developer of Carter’s Court, a small collection of shops and businesses.

“We started off with a bang,” said Marilyn. “A couple of days before opening, her cook quit. I was the cook. We were newcomers to the restaurant business, a tough tough business. We had a residential size dishwasher. The first day we served 78 people; the dishwasher took 70 minutes to cycle through. We had dishes piled to the ceiling. It didn’t take us long to get a professional sized dishwasher.”

Calvin operated the cash register at lunch. “People kept asking for recipes. Daisy would write them out on a piece of paper, or I would scribble on a cash register receipt. I figured out pretty quickly she and Marilyn should do a cookbook,” he said.

And the legendary “Little Yellow Cookbook” was born. Titled “Recipes from Miss Daisy’s”, the six by nine-inch book was yellow with a green binder and green print. It was an instant success. Today, 50 years later, it has sold over one million copies and is still in print. A remarkable feat. A 25th year edition was released for that auspicious occasion.

It was the first of 14 cookbooks King would author. Many are still in print. Their contents range from casual to fine gourmet southern dining, to desserts to a collection of recipes for the Tennessee Bicentennial Celebration of which King was a huge part. Her books are available now at her current business, Miss Daisy’s Kitchen, at the corner of Mack Hatcher and Hillsboro Road in Franklin.

At this location customers flock to pick up an array of her many dishes from her signature pimento cheese and chicken salad to her famous pot pies, meat loaf, poppyseed chicken, pound cake, an array of other desserts and a cornucopia of southern entrees. Miss Daisy’s Kitchen will endure, along with her name and her legacy.

Along with her plethora of culinary successes, TV appearances and philanthropic endeavors, Miss Daisy has been proud of her political acuity and involvement.

Her longtime friend, U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn, cites Miss Daisy’s most glowing experiences in that arena.

“One of the highlights of Daisy’s political life was being elected to serve as a Ronald Reagan delegate for the 1980 and 1984 Republican National Conventions. And in true Daisy fashion, she won friends and votes for the president using her delightful southern style,” said the Senator.

Since the unexpected death of this celebrated southern icon, this “First Lady of Southern Cooking”, the tributes have poured in from television, to social media, to cards, calls and texts with words of admiration from old friends and new. They pay homage to this strong woman who celebrated so many highs and suffered so many lows. She’s the ultimate survivor who tread through the loss of her husband, Wayne; her elder son Kevin; and less than two years ago, her 45-year-old remaining only son Patrick, who died following his excruciatingly hard-fought battle with cancer. His mother was beside him every step of the way throughout the painful war.

They lost.

By the hardest, Miss Daisy persevered. She said in a recent print interview that her body of work and more she would accomplish, had gotten her through. It is with broken hearts that those who knew her, and those who may have only known her through her myriad TV appearances, magazine and newspaper stories, lost her too soon.

As her friends the Lehews’ succinctly summed it up, “She was a really nice person.”

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Williamson County Animal Center, from whence Patrick and Daisy’s dog, Chief, came home to be treated like a king. That beloved pooch now has a new home with the family of very close friends of Daisy’s. Along with 1st Presbyterian Church of Nashville, Tennessee for their Food Missions.

As it should be.

Her life will be celebrated Friday, March 28 at 1 p.m. in the Sanctuary at First Presbyterian Church of Nashville on 4815 Franklin Pike. Visitation will be Thursday, March 27 from 4 to 7 p.m. in the Cheek House adjacent to the Sanctuary at First Presbyterian Church of Nashville.

Woodlawn Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.