S. Truett Cathy, the founder of the Chick-Fil-A chain, died in his home Monday morning at the age of 93. He had been ailing for quite a while, and CNN reports that he died peacefully at home, surrounded by loved ones.

According to the Washington Post, his obituary reads as follows: "The billionaire founder of the privately held Chick-Fil-A restaurant chain that famously closes on Sundays but also drew unwanted attention on gay marriage in recent years because of his family's conservative views, died early Monday, a company spokesman said. He was 93."

CNN reports that Cathy first came up with the concept for a chicken sandwich after a poultry distributor wondered if there was a way to use leftover chicken from meals originally prepared for plane passengers. Cathy worked at the Dwarf Grill in Hapeville, Georgia at the time, and the idea was a success among his customers. Soon afterwards, Cathy opened up the first Chick-Fil-A store in 1967 at a mall in Atlanta, Georgia.

Cathy was a very religiously devoted man, and he brought his devotion into the workplace. According to the Wall Street Journal, Chick-Fil-A became well known for being closed on Sundays and playing religious-themed music. This was never a problem for the business; its employees stated that the chain often made as much money in six days as its competitors do in seven.

 In fact, the Wall Street Journal reports that Chick-Fil-A became so popular that it topped KFC to become the nation's leading fast-food-chicken chain in terms of market share. Furthermore, by early 2013 annual sales topped $5 billion when the chain began to offer other Southern foods such as biscuits and gravy.

The company had to weather public criticism concerning Cathy's son Dan's criticism of gay marriage in 2012. Nevertheless, Chick-Fil-A is still doing well, having posted 47 straight years of sales increases.  

The Wall Street Journal reports that Dan Cathy is currently the company's chief executive, and Mr. Cathy's other son Don is the executive vice president.