Louisiana’s Walter S. McIlhenny Dies; Tabasco Sauce Scion Felled by Stroke

Walter S. McIlhenny, scion of the prominent Louisiana family that made the word Tabasco synonymous with hot sauce, died Saturday night after suffering a stroke at his estate on Avery Island in the bayou country here. He was 74.

McIlhenny was chairman and chief executive officer of McIlhenny Co., which makes several kinds of Tabasco sauce products, named for the pepper seeds McIlhenny’s great-grandfather first imported from Tabasco, Mex., more than 100 years ago.

That McIlhenny, Edmund, used the sauce on a dish he prepared for a conquering Union general shortly after the Civil War. The general sent some to his brother, a New York grocery man, who marketed and popularized the cayenne pepper-based product.

In 1975, the Wall Street Journal reported that the family-held firm had annual sales of more than $8 million and packaged more than 50 million bottles of Tabasco sauce sold in 100 countries.

Walter McIlhenny took charge of the company in 1949 after serving in the Marine Corps’ 1st Division at Guadalcanal in World War II and receiving the Navy Cross and other decorations.

He also was president of Avery Island Inc., the family company that owns Avery Island, home of the Tabasco operation, a salt mine, jungle gardens and a wildlife refuge.