Candlemaker Michael Kittredge II, who founded Yankee Candle as a teenager in his family home in 1969, has died. Kittredge was 67.
He died Wednesday night at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston after a brief illness.
The candles are available in more than 475 company-owned retail stores and more than 19,000 specialty stores in the United States. The company’s flagship store in Deerfield, Massachusetts, is a popular tourist destination.
Kittredge sold the company in 1998 and retired.
Kittredge got back in the candle business in 2010 when he helped his son start Kringle Candle.
He suffered a stroke in 2012 that limited his movement and speech, “but he characteristically battled back with courage and stamina,” the statement said.
He was a two-time cancer survivor and supported the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He was on its board of directors for several years.
He also helped create Cooley-Dickinson Hospital’s Kittredge Surgical Center, Holyoke Community College’s Kittredge Center, and the Kittredge Building at The Bement School in Deerfield.
Kittredge is survived by his son and two daughters.
Via CNN
