Funeral plans for Shirley Mae Beard, owner of the beloved soul food restaurant Shirley’s Mae Café in Louisville’s Smoketown neighborhood who died Saturday, have been announced.
According to a Facebook post released Tuesday, Beard will lie in repose at the Kentucky Derby Museum Jan. 24 from 5:30-8:30 p.m. Her funeral will follow the next day at noon at Community Baptist Church, located in the 4900 block of East Indian Trail.
The 84-year-old was loved in the community and ran Shirley’s Mae Café, celebrated for its fried chicken, hot water cornbread and friendly atmosphere, for more than 30 years. Located at 802 S. Clay St., Beard opened her doors on New Year’s Eve in 1988 in a more than 100-year-old, 3-story building that had previously been a post-Civil War encampment for former enslaved people, a grocery store and a bar, according to the restaurant’s website.
Louisville Shirley Beard, owner of Shirley Mae’s Café in Louisville’s Smoketown neighborhood, dies
Former Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer called Beard “one of the most iconic Louisvillians of this past century.”
“Whether it was some of the region’s best cooking, hospitality, civil rights leadership, or political activism, she approached life with contagious vigor and love,” he said in a statement. “She was a force for good. I will miss her greatly.”
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville restaurateur Shirley Beard’s funeral arrangements announced