FRIENDS OF SIKESTON'S NORMAN LAMBERT SHOCKED BY HIS DEATH

SIKESTON -- Norman Lambert threw his share of rolls. He also served up lots of white beans, fried okra, sticky sorghum and down-home conversation at his restaurant, Lambert's Cafe.

At 10 p.m. Monday, the 62-year-old Lambert stood on his driveway at his rural Sikeston home, put a .38-caliber handgun to his head, and fired.

He died instantly, said Scott Amick, Scott County coroner. No motive was given.

His suicide shocked and saddened those who knew him.

Friends and acquaintances said Lambert was a jovial, out-going man. His customers saw him that way too. He regularly stopped to chat with customers. Many of them he knew by name.

His restaurant was more than an eatery; it was a tourist attraction, with a country store-type entrance and countless paintings of mules. Lambert loved mules.

"It's a fascination I can't seem to control," he once wrote. That comment and other Lambert's Cafe trivia can be found in green booklets that the restaurant sells to customers. Lambert was proud of the restaurant's success and often gave away copies of the booklets.

The restaurant is widely known for its "throwed rolls." It bakes about 600 dozen rolls a day.

Lambert and his employees became adept at throwing the huge, hot rolls across the room to the eagerly, outstretched hands of hungry customers.

Lambert started the tradition on May 26, 1976, out of necessity rather than for entertainment.

Lambert's Cafe used to occupy a small building on South Main Street in Sikeston where there was little room to maneuver. A customer called for another roll and Lambert threw him one.

"Norman put Sikeston on the map, not only across the nation but across the world," said Steve McPheeters, executive director of the Sikeston Area Chamber of Commerce.

"He has done more for tourism than anybody I know of," McPheeters said. "Our hotel and motel industry has kind of grown up around Lambert's."

The restaurant at 2515 E. Malone is actually not in Sikeston, but in the adjoining and smaller town of Miner.

Walter Bizzell, Scott County 1st District commissioner from Sikeston, never imagined that his friend would commit suicide.

"I just couldn't believe it. I know he was a businessman and had a lot going on, but you would never dream anything was bothering him," said Bizzell, who chatted with Lambert at the restaurant last Thursday.

"He was just as happy as he could be. He talked like he always talked," Bizzell recalled.

Lambert daily visited his mother at a local nursing home.

Although upbeat, Lambert had his share of heartaches. A son, Todd, died at age 21 in a traffic accident in 1984. His father died in 1976.

Norman Lambert's parents, Agnes and Earl, started the cafe March 13, 1942. The restaurant moved into larger quarters in 1981 and then into its current building in June 1988.

In 1994, Lambert opened a second restaurant near Springfield. A third restaurant is scheduled to open June 24 near Gulf Shores, Ala.

Lambert's friend and banker Mike Marshall was shocked when he heard about the suicide.

"It about blew me away," said Marshall.

Marshall doesn't believe finances were a motive. "He was in sound financial shape," he said.

Marshall said Lambert had planned to travel to Alabama for the opening of the restaurant. "He was a good guy, a good businessman."

Lambert was a coach and teacher in the Sikeston public schools and then worked in construction for a short time. He took over the restaurant when his father died.

From the mid-1960s to the early 1970s, Lambert taught at the high school. He also was one of the football coaches and the head track coach at the school.

"He liked kids," said Roger Sherman, director of secondary education for Sikeston schools and Lambert's former boss. "He would give kids the shirt off his back."

Lambert regularly employed high school students at his restaurant.

The restaurant employs more than 120 people during the busy summer months. During the rest of the year, it employs from 80 to 100 people.

Employees said Lambert was a good boss. "He was extremely excellent to work for, more of a friend than an employer," said Jerry Johnson, who helps manage the Sikeston restaurant.

The restaurant was open for business Tuesday. "Really, the only reason we stayed open was kind of in memory of him," Johnson said.