GROWING UP

Stubb was born March 7, 1931 in Navasota, a small town on Texas’ Brazos river; one of 12 children born to a Baptist evangelist preacher and his wife. Some say that Stubb inherited his love for cooking from his father who would feed his congregation barbecue along with the gospel. Stubb recalls revival meetings followed by potluck dinners featuring beef and pork. When he was still a young boy, Stubb and his family moved to a farm near Lubbock. Stubb spent much of his youth picking cotton.

THE ARMY YEARS

Many say it was in the U.S. Army where Stubb actually became a cook. Stubb joined the military and was assigned to the 96th Field Artillery Battalion, in one of the Army’s last all African-American unit, as a gunner and tank driver in the Korean Conflict. Stubb served his unit and country honorably, and was decorated with two Purple Hearts.Stubb was reassigned as a Mess Sergeant where his cooking was so popular that many officers tried to have Stubb transferred to their units. In a way, Stubb’s mess hall was the first incarnation of a Stubb’s Bar-B-Q restaurant. In addition to serving great food, Stubb would play popular records and broadcast them on the field radio so his buddies could hear. While the troops enjoyed his cooking, they would listen to Stubb tell stories of Texas and somehow home did not seem so far away.