CARBONDALE - Mary Lou Trammel-Staffey is remembered for serving up hearty helpings of love that nurtured stomachs and souls for decades. "She was the biggest hearted person there was in the whole world," said Marsha Trammel, Mary Lou's youngest daughter. "She never met a stranger."

Mary Lou, who with late husband James opened the Carbondale landmark Mary Lou's Grill in 1962, died Thursday after a battle with cancer. She was 72.

Originally opened at a railroad-car-shaped building at 100 W. Walnut St., Mary Lou's Grill featured just 13 stools, a bar and a grill.

The tiny restaurant - measuring just about 10 feet by 50 feet - quickly gained a reputation for friendliness, good food and fine service at a reasonable cost.

Behind it all was Mary Lou, who could be seen sprinting up and down the aisle between the counter and grill, juggling 20 conversations at once while serving generous portions of flapjacks, eggs, bacon, sausage and her specialty - biscuits and gravy.

Alvin Roberts, a longtime Mary Lou's regular, remembers the days when locals would line up before dawn to grab a seat.

"There was such a demand for those stools," Roberts said, adding that Mary Lou's warm personality was as popular as the food.

"She was always happy," he said. "She always remembered you and would always say hello as soon as you walked through the door."

The restaurant became a home away from home for students of Southern Illinois University Carbondale, with Mary Lou serving as a surrogate mother to many.

Her popularity among students was evident on Dec. 14, 1976, when nearly 50 SIUC football players helped relocate the restaurant to its current locale at 114 S. Illinois Ave.

She also wouldn't let anyone go hungry, regardless of how much money they had.

If someone only had enough money for scrambled eggs, somehow hash browns or a slice of bacon would turn up on the plate, said daughter Marilynn Martin.

"Kids have come in here for years and they still do," Martin said. "Even if they came in and didn't have money, she'd feed them."

Mary Lou also had a penchant for nicknames, and customers were no exception.

Just a sampling includes "Blonde Bomber," "Hot Lips," "Lover Boy," "Ring-A-Ding" and "Hot Sing."

There was David "Gizzy" Low, who always ordered chicken gizzards, and a railroader whose favorite meal - two eggs, toast and coffee - came to be known as "Pretty Legs" on the menu.

"He had the ugliest pair of legs she ever saw, but she didn't want to hurt his feelings," Martin said.

Over the years, the walls of the restaurant became filled with pictures celebrating the lives she touched.

It started with a simple picture of Tony Orlando (Mary Lou's favorite performer) and a few pin-up girls. Now shots of celebrities, SIUC alums, elected officials, famous athletes, friends and family members grace nearly every inch of the walls.

"It got all outta hand from there," Martin said.

To commemorate the eatery's 25th anniversary in 1987, Gov. Jim Thompson proclaimed Nov. 16 as "Mary Lou's Day" in Illinois.

In the proclamation, Thompson noted that the restaurant had "cured more good old-fashioned SIUC hangovers than any other medical personnel could ever hope to do."

He also described Mary Lou's as "the closest thing to home away from home."

In 1990, Mary Lou retired and passed on the spatula to Marilyn, who still operates Mary Lou's with husband Robert.

"I hope to carry it on," Martin says of her mother's legacy.

Paul Staffey, Mary Lou's brother-in-law, shared coffee with her each morning for the last several years.

As the family gathered Thursday in Mary Lou's home, Staffey summed up the loss with a simple statement.

"The world has lost a good one," he said.

jason.lee@thesouthern.com

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