Daughter of Dave & Buster’s co-founder remembers father

DALLAS — In one of her favourite photographs, Kate Corley Lassiter is being hugged tightly by her father as they journey on the carriage being pulled by the Budweiser Clydesdales. One of the numerous perks of being “Buster’s” daughter.

“I have immense pride for who he was as a father. I have immense pride for who he was as a business person,” she informed WFAA two days after her father’s loss of life. “He was my hero, and he still is my hero and will always be.”

James “Buster” Corley, 72, co-founder of the Dave & Buster’s franchise, died Monday night time from what Dallas Police confirmed was a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Corley’s household defined that he struggled with the influence of a stroke 4 months in the past that prompted extreme harm to the communication and character half of his mind.

But Kate Corley Lassiter, his solely baby, solely needed to speak about her hero.

“I only have incredible, wonderful memories,” she stated. And these reminiscences are what she desires the world to give attention to now.

James “Buster” Corley, alongside together with his enterprise associate Dave Corriveau, created the primary Dave & Buster’s in Dallas in 1982. A coin flip decided whose title would go first.

Kate got here alongside six years later.

“His first baby is Dave & Buster’s,” she stated. “I am the second. But I got plenty of attention, don’t let that fool you,” she stated. 

Corley and Corriveau remained enterprise companions and finest mates and godfathers to one another’s kids till Corriveau’s passing in 2015. Today, Dave & Buster’s has 151 areas within the United States and two in Canada.

“It was overwhelming to read how many people loved him, how many people’s lives he impacted,” Kate Corley Lassiter stated of the numerous messages she’s acquired. “His biggest thing is ‘everybody is somebody.’ He never credited his success to him. It was about the Dave & Buster’s family. We couldn’t have done this without everybody.”

“What he cared about was your family making good memories with us. He never said you work for me. You work ‘with’ me.”

“It’s a very cool thing to see my dad affect so many people and have so much influence on them, that he never took it for granted.”

She finds proof of that in a reminiscence from ninth grade. A Dave & Buster’s worker, a line cook dinner, misplaced every little thing in an house fireplace.

“And so he woke me up that morning, he said ‘Kate, alright we’re taking apart your bunk bed and we’re taking all your bedroom furniture and we’re taking everything from the guest room and we’re gonna go take it to them.’ And that’s who he was to his core. He cared about every single person that was his team member.”

Among the numerous mantras that James “Buster” Corley adopted, is one which Kate retains in an image body. It says “No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.”

In granting an interview on the most troublesome time of her life, I requested if she was following that fatherly recommendation now?

“Yeah, no matter how you feel,” she stated. “And my dad always made sure to tell me and my mom that ‘I am Kate Corley, I can do it.'”

He left that for her in writing too. A handwritten observe from 2006, says “you are Kate Corley and you are very special and no one can change that. I’m your daddy and I and your mama are very proud of you. Love, Daddy.”  It is now a laminated memento she is going to maintain eternally, together with all these good reminiscences.

“Oh, and his 100-watt smile and the laugh. When you got my dad really laughing, it was a sight to see.”

“He was a legend. He was a legend because he was my dad. But he’s also a legend to so many other people for so many different reasons.”

That’s what Buster’s daughter desires you to recollect too.

If you or somebody you realize could also be battling suicidal ideas you’ll be able to name the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) any time of day or night time or chat on-line.