ATLANTA — Chick-fil-A founder and billionaire S. Truett Cathy rose from poverty, building a restaurant chain that famously closes every Sunday and drew unwanted attention for the Cathy family’s opposition to gay marriage.
Cathy died early Monday at 93.
He opened his first postwar diner in an Atlanta suburb in 1946, and by 1967, he had founded and opened his first Chick-fil-A, Inc. in Atlanta. Over ensuing decades, the chain’s boneless chicken sandwich he is credited with inventing would propel Chick-fil-A expansion to more than 1,800 outlets in 39 states and the nation’s capital. According to the company’s website, by early 2013, annual sales topped $5 billion as the chain offered up a taste of the South that went beyond chicken to such offerings as sweet tea, biscuits and gravy.
Under the religiously conservative founder, the chain gained prominence for its Bible Belt observance of the Sabbath. None of its hundreds of restaurants are open on Sunday to allow employees a day of rest. Its executives often said the chain made as much money in six days as its competitors do in seven.
Those religious views helped win Cathy and his family a loyal following from conservative customers, but also invited protests when Cathy’s son defended the company’s donations to groups campaigning against gay marriage.
Cathy’s son, Dan, president of the chain, told the Baptist Press in 2012 that the company was “guilty as charged” for backing “the biblical definition of a family.” Gay rights groups and others called for boycotts and kiss-ins at Cathy’s restaurants. The controversy later subsided.
Cathy is survived by his wife, two sons, a daughter, 19 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren, according to a company statement.
[A version of this story ran on page 9 on 9/9/2014 under the headline "Chick-fil-A founder dies at 93"]
