The founder of a string of Mississippi fried catfish joints has died at 84.

Son-in-law Mark Case tells WJTV-TV that Roger Penn died Friday morning at his farmhouse in Sandhill. No cause of death was stated.

Penn started Penn’s Fish house in 1967 at a location south of Canton. His children continue to run the family’s chain of more than a dozen restaurants across central Mississippi.

Penn’s has also been an iconic vendor on the midway at Mississippi’s State Fair each fall for decades, offering both catfish and fried chicken on a stick.

Relatives say that beyond the restaurants, Penn was also a champion cattle raiser.

Penn’s funeral will be Sunday at his home in Sandhill, followed by burial in a private cemetery on the farm.