Aggie Dining Legend Dies

Lt. Col. Fred W. Dollar, the former director of the Department of Dining Services at Texas A&M University and Army veteran, died Sept. 5 in his home in College Station. He was 89.

Dollar, a graduate of the A&M class of 1944, worked his way through school as a waiter in Sbisa Dining Center. “He used to mop the whole floor for 50 cents,” said Jim Moore, a friend of Dollar’s from the Army.

After he graduated, he fought in World War II as part of the Utah Beach landing where he delivered food and supplies to American soldiers.

Dollar stayed in the Army through the Korean War and then retired in 1965 after 22 years to take the position as director of Dining Services at A&M.

During his post at A&M, Dollar “developed many revolutionary things,” said his friend and assistant director of Dining Services Lloyd Smith.

“Fred was an extremely hard-working man, driven to make things happen,” Smith said.

Dollar transformed inefficient family-style dining, where each person sitting in a cafeteria would receive the same meal from a single line, to the modern food court style.

“He set the pace for the whole United States on how to treat and feed college students,” said Smith, who worked for Dollar when he developed the first food court seen on any college campus.

“Fred was a man of integrity and a hard worker,” Moore said. “He inspired me to be the same. I wanted to be just like him.”

Dollar was a founding member of the Society for Advancement in Food Service Research, former president of the Texas Restaurant Association, member of the National Restaurant Association and the National Association of College and University Food Service.

Dollar was involved in many other organizations, including the Rotary Club of Aggieland, Masonic Lodge, Scottish Rite Freemasonry and The American Legion. He also served as a deacon in The Bryan Fellowship Free Will Baptist Church.

“Colonel Dollar was one of the most generous and caring individuals I have ever known,” said Jarrod Hix, the Aggieland Rotarian president.

“He really believed in the ideals of Rotary’s motto, service above self,” Hix said, “and honestly, I don’t think anyone could ever say a bad thing about him.”

Dollar is survived by his wife, Frances Dollar, his daughter, Lydia Junek and son-in-law, Ivo Junek; granddaughter, Suzanne Crawford and her husband, Jerod Crawford; and great-grandson Matthew Crawford.