Lil’ Tex Restaurant loses long-time employee to COVID-19

By LYNETTE SOWELL 

Cove Leader-Press 

A local restaurant that has been a mainstay in Copperas Cove for more than 20 years lost a long-time employee to COVID-19 on Friday, Aug. 20. 

Charles Kattner, 31, first started working at Lil’Tex as a dishwasher, then worked his way up to cook, said Jackie O’Brien, the restaurant’s manager. 

She is reeling after Kattner’s loss, as are the other staff. She said he was best friends with her boys, grew up with them, and just about “lived” in her office. 

But then that all changed about two weeks ago, when with one person on a busy evening shift, “COVID creeped in our back door,” O’Brien said. 

In addition to Kattner, two dishwashers and two other cooks on the same shift tested positive for the virus, said O’Brien, and they in turn took it home to their families. 

The total count of cases, with family members included, is nine. O’Brien added that “absolutely no customers were affected.”

In response to the cases among the restaurant’s staff, O’Brien said they hired a professional cleaning company to hydrostatically treat the entire facility, and the facility will continue to be cleaned bi-weekly as recommended. 

Additionally, Lil’ Tex has temporarily decreased its operating hours, to dine-in from 6 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily. From 3-8 p.m., the restaurant is open for carryout only.

O’Brien said she expects the change in hours and service to remain in effect for at least a couple more weeks. 

Last year, during the time of mandates that required businesses decreasing capacity, the restaurant continued to operate with curbside orders. However, during that time period, there wasn’t a single case of COVID among the staff, O’Brien said.

“We had not a single one.” 

O’Brien said they keep COVID-19 test kits on hand and they will continue to test the employees. “I have tests in my office. The tests you can get from Walgreen’s are superb. You can get results in 15 minutes and they are superb.”

The other staff who worked with Kattner weren’t back to work as of Monday morning. 

“They’re not feeling 100 percent, and we don’t want them to come back if they’re not feeling 100 percent,” said O’Brien. “They each have different symptoms. One has fever, one has just body aches, one just headache. The one we lost was the most significant, and that was pneumonia.” 

O’Brien said they check on them daily, and have brought them groceries. 

“It is a very stressful and emotional time for us. Please keep us in your prayers,” O’Brien said. “I encourage the unvaccinated to get it, the effects of the vaccine are minimal compared to what it does without the vaccine. This can happen to anyone, anywhere. Wash hands, wear your mask, and get vaccinated. This is no joke.”

Services for Kattner will be on Saturday, Aug. 28, with a viewing at 10 a.m. followed by a service at 11 a.m. at Heritage Funeral Home in Lampasas. Burial will be at Oakhill Cemetery.