‘The Colonel’ has left the building
Les Wiggins, longtime Malibu resident and business owner, died in his sleep at home early Sunday, Nov. 3. He was 74.
Born Dec. 5, 1944, in St. Paul, Minn., Wiggins moved to Santa Monica as a child with his sisters and parents, who eventually moved out to Malibu in the late 1950s, where Wiggins chose to raise his own family: daughter Leslie with wife Kathy.
Remembered as friendly and outgoing, Wiggins loved his community, where he was a fixture at his Kentucky Fried Chicken on the Pacific Coast Highway for decades. His distinct 1982 silver BMW could be spotted on the highway during his seven-mile commute to work and back, and frequent stops along the way at Ralph’s, CVS and the bank.
After graduating from Loyola University in 1966, Wiggins followed his father into the restaurant business. Together they opened, owned and operated Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises in Pacific Palisades and Malibu. Over the years, their many celebrity customers included Elizabeth Taylor, Nancy and Ronald Reagan, and Robert Redford. Colonel Harland Sanders himself shot a commercial in the Malibu restaurant. In 2016, Les and Kathy transitioned the business into their own concept, Malibu Country Chicken. His passions were his family, his friends, Dodger baseball and following both college and professional football. He became an enthusiastic Tennessee Titans fan thanks to his Nashville-born son-in-law. Wiggins loved to laugh and was generous with hugs, his family recalled.
He is survived by his wife, Kathy; daughter, Leslie Bedford and son-in-law, Hank Bedford; and sisters, Patricia Guthrie, Laureli Polk, and Virginia Newman.
A funeral Mass will be held on Thursday, Nov. 14 at 10 a.m. at Our Lady of Malibu Catholic Church. Donations may be made in the name of Les Wiggins to Our Lady of Malibu Catholic Church or to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.