Eddie Woolbright

Edgar Ray Woolbright (18 March 1920 - 6 August 1996) was an American entrepreneur who planned and developed the Beverly Hills subdivision of Lahug, Cebu City in the Philippines.

[1] He joined the United States Merchant Marine, and was in Caracas, Venezuela at the time of the December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.

In October 1944 Woolbright sailed on a supply ship from New Guinea to join the American fleet in the invasion of Leyte.

As the son of a blacksmith and machinist, he saw huge potential in all the scrap metal on the island, left by the armed forces.

[7] In 1947 Woolbright was running a hardware and spare parts store, and founded the Airline Hotel and Coffee Shop beside it.

He had his own generators, so was not affected by the erratic electricity supply in Tacloban, and could run ice cream machines.

[2] Eddie's Log Cabin was in downtown Cebu City near the wharf, and became a place were politicians and celebrities came to be seen.

It was air-conditioned and served American diner food, including coconut cream pie from a recipe of Eddie's mother and turkey for Thanksgiving.

[5] The young lawyer Marcelo Fernan, who later became a senator, showed Woolbright a property of more than 33 hectares (82 acres) of undeveloped land owned by the heirs of American expatriate physician Arlington Pond.

[5] As of 2017 his daughter Cebuana Alice Woolbright was running Eddie’s Log Cabin Coffee Shop, still serving dishes like corned beef brisket with cabbage and coconut cream pie.