Arch West, creator of Doritos, dies at 97

Arch Clark West will have the epitome of a marketing man's epitaph.

His family plans to sprinkle Doritos at his graveside service Saturday at Restland Memorial Park in Dallas.

West, the retired Frito-Lay executive credited with creating Doritos, died Sept. 20 of natural causes at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas. He was 97.

"We are tossing Doritos chips in before they put the dirt over the urn," said daughter Jana Hacker of Allen, Texas. "He'll love it."

West had a food industry reputation when the Frito Co. recruited him to be its marketing vice president in 1960. He had worked for Lever Brothers and Young & Rubicam in New York and clients that included Jell-O.

"One time a model didn't show up, so my dad had to be in a cigarette ad," Hacker said. "They had to put him in a hat with a fishing pole . . . he was just a character."

-- McClatchy-Tribune