AUSTIN — The legendary co-founder of Uncle Remus Saucy Fried Chicken celebrated his 100th birthday Tuesday with a motorcade, a food giveaway and the launch of a foundation that will support West Siders.
A crowd of dozens gathered Tuesday morning in Austin to honor centenarian Gus Rickette Sr.’s legacy and lasting business footprint on the West Side. Rickette, who turned 100 Tuesday, rode in a large motorcade through the neighborhood before reaching a stage built in the parking lot next to the original Uncle Remus, 5611 W. Madison St.
A celebration was held outside the Uncle Remus location before 700 fried chicken meals were given away out of the Uncle Remus food truck.
Born into extreme poverty in Mississippi, Rickette would reach Chicago by train at 16 years old in the early 1940s. Rickette was homeless in Chicago before joining the U.S. Army during World War II, he said. In the years after his return, Rickette worked as a bricklayer, steel worker and janitor until he opened G&G Chicken at 135 S. Pulaski Road in 1962, the first brick-and-mortar chicken shack on the West Side…