Carol Ham, the former co-owner of the Lil’ Abner’s Dairyette drive-in restaurant on Route 66 in Catoosa, Okla., died last week at age 66, reported the Tulsa World.
Ham and her mother, Bea Yocham Smith, ran the restaurant from 1959 until health issues forced her to sell it. The restaurant finally closed in 2003, but the building still stands.
The first drive-in restaurant in Catoosa, Abner’s was named for Ham’s late father, Velmo “Lil’ Abner” Yocham, whose nickname was inspired by Li’l Abner Yokum of the Al Capp comic strip.
Ham worked at the drive-in as a teenager and eventually took over daily operations from her mother in 1986.
During the drive-in’s heyday, customers dropped in for burgers, hot dogs, Frito pies, ice cream cones and malts.
The funeral was Monday in Tulsa. A photo of the restaurant’s sign can be seen here.
