Widow of Frito Lay Founder, Philanthropist Mary Doolin Dies

Philanthropist Mary Kathryn "Kitty" Doolin, the widow of Frito-Lay, Inc., co-founder C.E. Doolin, has died. She was 89.

Kitty Doolin died Monday in her Dallas home from various complications related to a fall and surgery, her son Charles Doolin said Tuesday night.

She served for many years on the Frito-Lay Board of Directors and helped her husband figure out store-door delivery routes by stringing yarn along a map of pins stuck into the carpet of their temporary home in Los Angeles.

Her family said she was an advocate for The Meadows School for the Arts at Southern Methodist University, The Meadows Museum, the Dallas Arboretum and the Dogwood Canyon Audubon Center in Cedar Hill.

After the death of C.E. Doolin in 1959, she remarried and divorced twice.

In addition to Charles, she is survived by son Earl Leslie Doolin and daughters Kaleta Ann Doolin and Willadean (Willa) Doolin.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
Contact Us