Mary Meaux
The Port Arthur News
PORT ARTHUR
March 22, 2007 07:45 pm
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When the head folks at Sara Lee know you by name, that’s quite a big deal.
That’s how well known Murphy Chatagnier was during his life.
Chatagnier, 97, who owned and operated Murphy’s Cake Shop, died Thursday.
Chatagnier honed his craft at the tender age of 14 while working for his uncle, Whitney Peck, of Peck’s Bakery. Later he headed the steward department on the Texas Company’s tanker, SS New Jersey.
Randy Chatagnier, his son, related a story his father often told.
“One day they called him into the office and said his food cost was less that 20 other ships’ cost. Everyday at 4 p.m. dad would serve fresh baked cinnamon rolls and coffee. By the time dinner came around they were pretty much full,” he said.
After a stint with the Merchant Marines during World War II during which his ship was torpedoed, the Louisiana native and longtime Port Arthur resident built Murphy’s Cake Shop in 1946, taking with him innovative ideas to help his bakery.
During the war ships used food freezers to hold the large amount of food needed to go to sea. This was also at a time when the sugar to flour ratio in cakes changed creating tender cake that was difficult to place icing on. Chatagnier decided to freeze the cake before icing it.
“He had a friend at Wesson Foods who helped develop this. It revolutionized the bakery business,” he said. “People at Sara Lee knew him by name when they were developing the pound cake.”
Cheryl Carson, Chatagnier’s daughter, has fond memories of the bakery business.
“They (parents) would put me and my brother into a giant mixing bowl that had a curved bottom so it wouldn’t tip over,” Carson said. That’s how my mother baby-sat us while at work.”
The smell of fresh baked goods often drifted through the neighborhood bringing customers to the doors of Murphy’s.
The bakery was located across the street from St. James Catholic Church and at that time the church was not air conditioned. The doors were swung open to circulate the air and the priest was often heard saying “Well, Murphy’s baking his bread again,” she said.
“There would be a line of people on Sunday morning for the French bread,” she said.
Both children followed in their father’s footsteps, taking turns operating the business as co-owners. Randy Chatagnier later went to work at Lake Tahoe Sahara as a pastry chef.
“We (father and son) would get across the bench form each other and race,” the son said. “We would make a batch of 100 cinnamon rolls, at times he would be ahead of me by five or six, then I would be ahead. But they all had to be perfect.”
Murphy Chatagnier wasn’t stingy with his recipes, both of his children said. He made them available to all other bakers because he felt “if they did good, then he would do good.”
Chatagnier was an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed duck hunting and fishing.
“He would ‘hunt for the market,’ which is basically poaching,” he said of the long ago days. “He would go across the canal at Sabine Pass and shoot ducks and sell them for 35 cents each. People would be on the lookout for the game warden for him.”
Murphy Chatagnier served as a board member for the Hughen School, Texas Bakers Association and founded the Texas retail Bakers Association. He was a life-member of the Port Arthur Sertoma Club, the American Legion as well as the Elks Club in earlier years.
He is survived by his wife, Gertrude, daughter Cheryl Carson, son Randy Chatagnier and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
A wake will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday at Clayton Thompson Funeral Home. Services will be at 2 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home.
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The Port Arthur News