Derald Fulton's recipe for success was simple: Figure out what Tucsonans want and give it to them.
It was a business plan that served him well for more than 50 years. Fulton was the founder of the Lucky Wishbone restaurants, where diners are hard-pressed to find anything on the menu that isn't deep fried. And that's how generations of loyal customers like it.
Lucky Wishbone continued to serve up the same tasty, inexpensive fare after Fulton retired a dozen years ago. He and his wife of 70 years, Daisy, moved to Phoenix six years ago, and that is where Fulton died Oct. 5, a month shy of his 97th birthday.
Fulton and his wife moved to Arizona in 1947. After years of coaching high school basketball and teaching history in the Midwest, Fulton, a Southern Illinois University graduate, wanted a new challenge, said his son Gary. Fulton went into business with a friend in Phoenix and opened the Polar Bar, a restaurant popular with teens, where food was served by carhops.
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After a few years, the Fultons moved to Tucson and in July 1953, opened the first Lucky Wishbone on South Sixth Avenue. Despite the sweltering summer temperature, hundreds of people waited in line to pick up boxes of fried chicken at what the company's website says was Tucson's first fast-food restaurant.
Realizing he had a hit on his plate, Fulton quickly opened more Lucky Wishbones with the help of three men who would become his managing partners: Clyde "Buzz" Buzzard, John Kinder and Donald Morris. Buzzard is the last surviving partner.
"He really experimented," Gary Fulton said of his father. "He wanted something different. He wanted something that wasn't much trouble, that was simple, that there wasn't a bunch of seating."
The answer: takeout food. Stand in line, place an order, walk out with a meal in a box.
"That was totally unique back then. Everybody either cooked or ate at a restaurant," Gary Fulton said. "It just exploded. They used to open up a new place and maybe 500 people would be in line."
Today, there are seven locations in Tucson, and a Sierra Vista restaurant is expected to open at the end of the year.
The son of Illinois grangers, Fulton "had that Midwest farmer's mentality. He was very, very honest; a lot of integrity. Worked hard. Treated people right," his son said.
Fulton is survived by his wife, two sons, Gary and Scott, five grandchildren, six great-grandchildren and a stepbrother, John. He was predeceased by his daughter, Jane Block. At Fulton's request, there is no public memorial service.
Contact reporter Kimberly Matas at kmatas@azstarnet.com or 573-4191.