Ottie Austin Ladd's Obituary
OTTIE AUSTIN LADD 1936 – 2013
Ottie Austin Ladd, Oklahoma farm boy, Army pilot, businessman and community supporter, died peacefully at his home surrounded by his family on June 6. The cause of death was idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. He was 77.
Ottie was born in Cordell, Oklahoma, the son of, Ottie Abraham and Margretta (Hill) Ladd. His father died when he was only two, leaving his mother with five children to support during the Depression. Eventually, an aunt and uncle, Art and Eliza Elliott, took the children in and raised them on their sharecrop farm where Ottie learned the importance and necessity of hard work. He went on his first wheat harvest from Oklahoma to the Canadian border when he was only nine.
He continued to work the wheat harvests in summers and other jobs during the school year to pay his way through Oklahoma State University, where he was involved in campus politics and his fraternity. He joined ROTC and its flight training program to earn more money for school. As an Army pilot, he flew in Southeast Asia at the start of the Vietnam War. He was transferred to Ft. Lewis in 1962 and when he left the Army as a Captain in 1965, he settled in Lakewood and lived there until his death.
He was past owner of the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants in Pierce County, Spokane and Coeur d’Alene. He held several leadership positions at KFC representing all U. S. franchisees on the National Franchisee Advisory Committee and the National Advertising Cooperative. After selling his restaurants, he became co-owner of Capital Investment Corporation of Washington.
His KFC restaurants provided a first job for many young people, and he often ran into adults who told him they’d started work at one of his restaurants – many saying it was one of their best job experiences. In later years, many former workers told him their children also got their first jobs at KFC. Ottie loved to see how the young workers blossomed as they gained more confidence in their work skills and dealing with co-workers and customers.
He paid attention to the adage “travel while you can.” And while he could, he took skiing, camping and fishing trips into the wilderness of Canada and the Northwest, climbed Huayna Picchu in Peru and Half Dome in Yosemite National Park and traveled extensively throughout the world. But no matter where he traveled, he was always glad to return to the Pacific Northwest. He also played tennis every Saturday morning with the same group of friends for 40 years, until the pulmonary fibrosis made it too difficult.
He was a dedicated gardener and environmentalist and welcomed big fat worms in his compost bin and garden because they meant the soil was healthy and productive. He loved collecting all sorts of garden and farm tools and visiting antique shops wherever he traveled to collect more. He especially appreciated old hammers with handles worn smooth over many years because of the hard work they represented.
Ottie was a firm believer in giving back to the communities that supported his businesses, and he was actively involved in and supported many non-profit organizations, especially those that helped young people learn job skills and get an education. He was a 42-year member of Tacoma Rotary # 8 and served as its president in 1984-85. He also served as president of the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation and held leadership positions at Greater Lakes Mental Health, Allenmore Hospital Foundation, the Tacoma Art Museum, the Washington State Historical Society, Lakewold Gardens and MultiCare Foundation. He was a graduate of the American Leadership Forum 1993 class four.
Ottie’s valued priorities in life were, first and foremost, family and friends. He is survived by his wife, Clara Kinner Ladd; three children, Rodney (Shelley); Mindy (Michael O’Neill); and Cori (Michael Beerman); six grandchildren, Michael Ladd, Sarah Miller, Emrey Hombach, Macy Hombach, Ruby Beerman and Miles Beerman; two sisters, Zonelle Pappan and Jan Jordan of Oklahoma; and his former wife, Barbara Ladd.
A memorial service will be held at 2:00 on Friday, June 14, at Mountain View Funeral Home, followed by a reception at the Tacoma Golf and Country Club.
The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to:
Rotary 8 Foundation, P.O. Box 1777, Tacoma, 98401; or
The Ottie and Clara Ladd Great Futures Fund at the Boys and Girls Club of Lakewood, 3875 S. 66th St., Tacoma, 98409; or
Tacoma Goodwill Industries, 714 S. 27th St., Tacoma, 98409.
Arrangements by Mountain View Funeral Home.
What’s your fondest memory of Ottie?
What’s a lesson you learned from Ottie?
Share a story where Ottie's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Ottie you’ll never forget.
How did Ottie make you smile?