About Us

(May 11, 1933 – Dec 30, 2011)

This is the web site of Peggy Joyce “Mama Peggy” Chaney, daughter of Rev. Robert Lattie and Winnie Moss Chaney. Peggy was born in 1933 and lived her entire adult life in the Kings Mountain area of North Carolina. She is fondly remembered in Kings Mountain as “the cook” for Peggy’s Restaurant (which was in business for over 25 years, owned and operated by her sister, Loretta Chaney).

Peggy was one of eleven children, known to many of Kings Mountain’s older residents as “the Chaney bunch”. She was a member of Eastside Baptist Church in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, which was founded and / or first pastored by her father. She was also a member of Second Baptist Church, also in Kings Mountain, which her father founded and / or first pastored as well.

Peggy had one son, Kevin Lovelace, with her first husband, Bob Lovelace. She briefly helped operate a restaurant with Bob named “Bob’s Drive-In” in the late 1960’s to early 1970’s (at 509 E. King Street in Kings Mountain), where, as of this writing, a Hardee’s is now located.

Peggy later founded Peggy’s Restaurant with the help of her second husband. She was later convinced to sell “The cafe”, as the family called it, by the husband, who wanted her to focus on her family. So Peggy sold the restaurant to Loretta, who kept the name. Peggy later returned to Peggy’s Restaurant and worked for Loretta as the head cook. Loretta ran the business while Peggy planned and cooked the bulk of the food. The sisters also lived together and remained at Peggy’s Restaurant together until they retired and sold the business in the mid-1990s, after a run of about 25 years.

In the early 1980s Peggy moved in with Loretta at 511 Crescent Hill in Kings Mountain (the second husband didn’t work out). She lived with Loretta until Loretta’s death in 2002. During that time the rest of their sisters and brothers were never far away. The Crescent Hill residence was a block away from their sister, Martha Sue, a few blocks away from their sister, Sherry , and only a mile or so away from their sisters, Lucille and Sis (who lived “across town”). Their sister, Edith, lived in Bessemer City, the next town over, which was about 5 miles away. As for their brothers, Grady lived a few blocks away, Jack lived a mile or so away (“across town”), Johnny in Cherryville (about 10 miles away) and Robert in Stanley (about 18 miles away). The Chaney bunch remained close their entire lives, both emotionally and physically. Peggy’s Restaurant served as a family hub for its entire run, with several of the sisters working there from a time to time, and all of the sisters and brothers being “in and out” of “the cafe” at least weekly.

A few years after Loretta’s death, Peggy moved into the Kings Mountain Manor senior community in Kings Mountain, in an apartment beside her sister, Sherry (who was also a fixture at “the cafe”). Peggy lived there until her death in 2011. When she died, she had been preceded in death by Lucille (1994), Edith (2010), Robert (1987), Grady (1979), Johnny (1992), Sis (2002), and Loretta (2002). She was survived by one brother and two sisters, who would follow; Jack (2020), Martha Sue (2017), and Sherry (2021).

Peggy had hoped to publish a cookbook of her favorite recipes before her death, as well as many of the most sought after recipes from Peggy’s Restaurant. She didn’t live long enough to see the cookbook published, but she did post many of those recipes on this web site, along with many ruminations on her life, her past, and the family she loved so much with her sisters and brothers. Her many posts here are what we built the cookbook from. She loved to hear from visitors to this web site, and always encouraged the users of MamaPeggy.com to drop her a line from time to time. We still uphold that tradition around here. If you’re here you’re family to use, just like you would have been if we saw you often at Peggy’s Restaurant. Welcome. And hello.

Peggy died suddenly on December 30th, 2011 after a brief illness. She is greatly missed.

– Kevin Wicasta Lovelace (Peggy’s son)

Links

• • The Chaney Bunch