Ruby Cavanaugh, namesake of Ruby’s Diner restaurant chain, dies at 93 in Southern California
TUSTIN, Calif. – Ruby Cavanaugh, the woman whose love for 1940s music and culture inspired her son to create a chain of diners in her name, has died. She was 93.
A spokeswoman for Ruby’s Diner restaurant chain says Cavanaugh died Sunday in Tustin from natural causes.
Cavanaugh was born in Jefferson City, Missouri, and moved with her family to California in 1936. She later met her husband and had two children, Doug Jr. and Jane.
Doug Cavanaugh Jr. returned to Southern California in 1980 after successfully restoring a restaurant in Cape Cod. He was out jogging when he noticed a dilapidated building and got the idea to turn it into a 1940s-themed diner.
The first Ruby’s Diner opened in 1982 serving hot dogs, hamburgers and malts. The chain now has 35 locations.
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