Helen Anglin, founder of the legendary Soul Queen restaurant on the South Side, passed away Tuesday at age 80.
Helen Anglin, founder of the legendary Soul Queen restaurant on the South Side, passed away Tuesday at age 80.
Anglin died from health issues at her Chatham home with her two daughters by her side.
“We were there when God called her home. She had a peaceful passing and is now resting with God,” her daughter D-Ella Pyrzynski told the Defender. “I will miss her smile and words of encouragement.”
“My mom was a giving person who loved her neighborhood and loved calling her minister every week,” Anglin’s other daughter, Gina Gibson-Devine, said.
Anglin was a longtime member at Christ Universal Temple Church on the far South Side.
According to Gibson-Devine, in 1947, Anglin founded Soul Queen with her husband at 22nd Street and Michigan Avenue before moving it in 1975 to its current location, 9031 S. Stony Island Ave.
Since her passing, the restaurant has been shuttered and the family said it wouldn’t reopen.
Pyrzynski said the restaurant would remain closed, in part, because the license is non-transferable. Eventually the building will be sold, she said.
“Soul Queen was her legacy, and that is how she wants to be remembered. I guess you can say it will be buried with her,” she explained.
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