S. Truett Cathy, founder of the Chick-fil-A restaurant chain, passed away this morning at the age of 93.

Cathy spent his life in the restaurant business and opened his first Chick-fil-A restaurant in 1967. Soon it would be a southern institution and eventually Chick-fil-A would open nationwide (but not here in Boston).

Liberals and left-wingers were offended by Cathy’s unabashed Christianity. Chick-fil-A is famous for being closed on Sunday. But it was his opposition to gay marriage that got in their craw. By the time the Chick-fil-A controversy hit Boston and Chicago two years ago, his son Dan was running the day to day operations of the company, but a lot of the invective was directed at the elder Cathy. I didn’t agree with Cathy’s position on gay marriage, but it was a terribly unfair thing to do.

From where I sit, Cathy made a good product and an environment where people felt welcome and looked forward to coming back again and again. He also used his money to help unwanted children find foster homes and underprivileged children get scholarships. Cathy made a success of his life and wished to pass on that success to others. That’s a life well lived.