Truett Cathy, Chick-fil-A Founder and Chairman Emeritus
In a message sent to employees on Monday, September 8, 2014, Chick-fil-A® announced that its founder and chairman emeritus, S. Truett Cathy, died at 1:35 a.m. at the age of 93. He died peacefully at home, surrounded by loved ones. Read the full obituary here.
S. Truett Cathy was “a godly man, a wise husband and father, a business genius, a creative innovator, a humble servant of Jesus Christ with rock-ribbed integrity, a generous philanthropist, and one who loved greatly, cared deeply for the poor, especially disadvantaged kids, and used his life and work to benefit others.”
The Chick-fil-A foundation invests in children and young people at every stage of life. Their SHELTERING ARMS program provides childhood education for working families with high quality, affordable child care. Their POWER CAMPS provide week-long day camps of sports, encouragement, and skill training to kids from poor communities. Their HOMEWORK HOTLINE is a partnership that offers free homework help to struggling students across Atlanta.
Truett and his family have pioneered ministry projects like Emerging Leadership Experiences, Play it Smart, their Junior Achievement Discovery Center, Mentoring programs, and the millions of scholarship dollars they donate each year to help employees get college degrees.
Quotes in Honor of Cathy:
“What impresses me most about Truett Cathy is that he has had the courage to follow his beliefs even though he’s pressured by the world to do otherwise. Even though the business world said it didn’t make sense to take Sundays off, Truett insisted on a day of rest.”
Larry Julian
Author, “God Is My CEO”
“Truett Cathy is one of the extraordinary people of my generation. Our shared commitment to children and our crusade for creating positive role models for children has made our friendship significant for me.”
Art Linkletter
Television Star, Author of ‘Kids Say the Darndest Things’
“I hope that people will learn from Truett Cathy the virtues that have brought him remarkable success in life. He has dedicated himself to service in the broadest sense, following Christian principles, not only in his personal life, but in his relations with his customers and employees.”
Jimmy Carter
Former President of the United States
“A GOOD name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favor rather than silver and gold.”
S. Truett Cathy quotes:
“No goal is too high if we climb with care and confidence.”
“Nearly every moment of every day we have the opportunity to give something to someone else – our time, our love, our resources. I have always found more joy in giving when I did not expect anything in return.”
“I’d like to be remembered as one who kept my priorities in the right order. We live in a changing world, but we need to be reminded that the important things have not changed, and the important things will not change if we keep our priorities in proper order.”
“You have to be very careful about what you say. More importantly, you have to be very careful about what you do. You never know how or when you influence people – especially children.”
“It is when we stop doing our best work that our enthusiasm for the job wanes. We must motivate ourselves to do our very best, and by our example lead others to do their best as well.”
“I believe no amount of business school training or work experience can teach what is ultimately a matter of personal character. Businesses are not dishonest or greedy, people are. Thus, a business, successful or not, is merely a reflection of the character of its leadership.”
And my personal favorite quote from S. Truett Cathy: “It’s Better to Build Boys than Mend Men.”