ATLANTA – S. Truett Cathy, who turned a humble hometown restaurant featuring a boneless fried chicken sandwich into the Chick-fil-A juggernaut, died Monday at 1:35 a.m. He was 93.
Cathy, who died at home surrounded by loved ones, was known as much for his Christian principles – Chick-fil-A’s are closed on Sundays – as he was for his business acumen. He lived long enough to see his company rise from a local grill to the No. 1 U.S. chicken chain this year.
In many ways, he lived the American dream. Starting life in poverty, Cathy opened a tiny diner on the outskirts of Atlanta and built it into into a corporation with more than 1,800-restaurants. He was inspired as a teen by Napolean Hill’s motivational tome “Think and Grow Rich,” whose mantra was – you can achieve whatever your mind can conceive.
“I had a low image of myself because I was brought up in the deep Depression,” Cathy said in a 2008 interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I struggled to get through high school. I didn’t get to go to college. But it made me realize you can do anything if you want to bad enough.”
His success, personality and principles made Cathy a rock star among fans who showed up in the hundreds at signings for the books he wrote or to hear him lecture on the fast-food industry.