Bessie Mae Rawls, owner and operator of a popular soul food restaurant in the Hill District, died Wednesday. She was 102.

For the past decade or so, Mrs. Rawls lived at the Forbes Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Larimer, said her son Douglas King, of the Hill District.

Mrs. Rawls was born in White Sulphur Springs, Ga. At age 13, she married Charles King and in 1921 the couple moved to Pittsburgh, settling initially in Hazelwood.

Soon after her husband died in 1926, Mrs. Rawls went to work as a short-order cook at the Betsy Ross restaurant in Oakland.

She also worked at Ma Pitt's, a restaurant owned by her sister, Erin Godfrey, on Wylie Avenue in the Hill District.

Ma Pitt's was on the same corner as a restaurant owned by vocalist Lena Horne's father, Teddy Horne, and across the street was Gus Greenlee's Crawford Grill No.1 and the Crystal Barbershop owned by Woogie Harris.

In 1949, Mrs. Rawls, along with her son Douglas and daughter Verna Graham, opened the B&M restaurant.

Located at 1617 Centre Ave., the restaurant specialized in Southern-style cuisine, including salt pork and greens, smothered steak, fried chicken and sweet potato pies.

The late playwright August Wilson was a frequent guest at the B&M.

On Mrs. Rawls' 90th birthday, Mr. Wilson wrote her a letter expressing his appreciation for all of the great meals that she had served him.

Mr. Wilson addressed the letter to 'Tommy,' a nickname Mrs. Rawls had since her youth in rural Georgia.

"In the letter, he indicated that he did [much] of his writing while sitting and eating," said Mr. King.

Other frequent guests were professional athletes.

"When Roberto Clemente came to Pittsburgh, he would come to the B&M restaurant," continued Mr. King.

"For a while, he was a regular customer. Roberto was very quiet. He would come in, eat and leave."

Mr. King said the restaurant was open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Later, he said the family opened a second restaurant at the corner of Wylie and Herron avenues.

But in the 1960s, business slowed down after the demolition of the Lower Hill District and the 1968 riots that followed the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

After the B&M closed in 1973, Mrs. Rawls opened her home to boarders and provided meals to the needy. She continued to do that until the mid-1990s, when she became ill.

In addition to Mr. King, Mrs. Rawls is survived by another son, William King of Garfield.

Visitation is from 4 to 8 p.m. today at the Wesley Center AME Zion Church, 2701 Centre Ave. A funeral service will take place at 11 a.m. tomorrow at the church.