In Memoriam: Subway Founder Fred DeLuca

Fred DeLuca, who was 17 when he founded a small sandwich shop that grew into Subway, the world’s largest restaurant chain, has died just weeks after celebrating his company’s 50^th anniversary. He was 67.

DeLuca fell ill in 2013, while traveling to visit franchisees, and was diagnosed with leukemia. While he remained active with the privately held Milford, Conn., chain, he’d recently ceded more control to his sister, Suzanne Greco, appointed company president in charge of daily operations, earlier this year. Subway has more than 26,000 locations in the U.S., and more than 44,000 locations worldwide.