[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 100 (Friday, June 15, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E852-E853]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF MRS. EVA LOUIS ``TEE EVA'' PERRY

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. CEDRIC L. RICHMOND

                              of louisiana

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, June 15, 2018

  Mr. RICHMOND. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the life and legacy of 
Mrs. Eva Louis ``Tee Eva'' Perry, the founder of Tee-Eva's Old-
Fashioned Pies and Pralines, who died on June 7, 2018 at the age of 83.
  Mrs. Eva Louis ``Tee Eva'' Perry was born on the Glendale Plantation 
of Colonie, Louisiana and grew up in the Magnolia housing project on 
Washington Avenue. Tee Eva, short for ``Aunt Eva,'' was the name coined 
by natives of New Orleans. Her voyage to become the ``New Orleans Queen 
of Pralines'' began in 1980 when she became an entrepreneur by sharing 
her grandmother's family recipes with the world.
  Mrs. Perry left New Orleans in the early 1980s and spent seven years 
in Los Angeles,

[[Page E853]]

California, where she taught cooking classes and catered private events 
for political figures and celebrities such as Governor of California 
Jerry Brown, Phyllis Diller, Sugar Ray Robinson, Mr. T and Zsa Zsa 
Gabor. In 1987, right after an earthquake, Mrs. Perry decided to leave 
California and returned to New Orleans, where she rented a small 
kitchen located in Mid-City to make her pies and pralines to sell to 
local restaurants and businesses. Mrs. Perry became a walking vendor of 
pies and pralines. She was a frequent visitor at City Hall, where staff 
would chase her down to buy her baked goods.
  Mrs. Perry grew that business into a full restaurant on Freret Street 
in 1991. She ultimately found a permanent home for her much sought-
after cooking on historic Magazine Street near Napoleon Avenue in 1994. 
The shop moved up Magazine Street in 2009 to the corner of Dufossat 
Street, where the Tee-Eva's shop has remained for over 15 years. From 
the walk-up window she sold not only baked goods, but also jambalaya, 
red beans and snowballs.
  Mrs. Antoinette K-Doe, the wife of the legendary singer Mr. Ernie K-
Doe, was Mrs. Perry third cousin. The two women formed the Paradise 
Ladies, who always dressed in matching outfits, served as Ernie K-Doe's 
backup singers. After Ernie K-Doe died in 2001, his wife looked for 
ways to keep his name alive. In 2003, one of her ideas was to revive 
the baby dolls, a Carnival tradition dating to the early 20th century 
where African-American women dressed in short skirt and bloomers. 
Antoinette K-Doe enlisted Mrs. Perry and Geannie Thomas to help lead a 
group dubbed the Ernie K-Doe Baby Dolls.
  The Ernie K-Doe Baby Dolls continued to gather each year at Carnival, 
and make special appearances at concerts and cultural events, until 
Antoinette K-Doe died in 2009.
  Mrs. Perry cooking has been featured in countless magazines such as 
Elle, Home and Garden, Sherman's Travel, Country Living, and Williams-
Sonoma. Mrs. Perry also became a television regular via the nationally-
syndicated Food Network program ``Road Tasted'' with Jamie and Bobby 
Dean, as well as Anthony Bourdain's cooking show on the Travel Channel. 
Tee Eva retired in 2000, passing all of her Creole family recipes to 
her granddaughter, Keonna Thornton, who to this day fully owns and 
operates the business.
  Mrs. Perry lived an extraordinary life that cannot be categorized. 
Her legacy will forever be a part of the city of New Orleans and her 
dedication to community embodies the spirit of the city. We cannot 
match the sacrifices made by Mrs. Perry, but surely we can try to match 
her sense of service. We cannot match her courage, but we can strive to 
match her devotion.
  Mr. Speaker, I celebrate the life and legacy of Mrs. Eva Louis ``Tee 
Eva'' Perry.

                          ____________________