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<p>PITTSBURGH (AP) &#8212; You probably don&#8217;t know his name, but you&#8217;ve almost certainly devoured his creation: two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame seed bun.</p><p>Michael James &#8220;Jim&#8221; Delligatti, the McDonald&#8217;s franchisee who created the Big Mac nearly 50 years ago and saw it become perhaps the best-known fast-food sandwich in the world, died Monday at home in Pittsburgh. Delligatti, who according to his son ate at least one 540-calorie Big Mac a week for decades, was 98.</p><p>Delligatti&#8217;s franchise was based in Uniontown, not far from Pittsburgh, when he invented the chain&#8217;s signature burger in 1967 after deciding customers wanted a bigger sandwich. Demand exploded as Delligatti&#8217;s sandwich spread to the rest of his 47 stores in Pennsylvania and was added to the chain&#8217;s national menu in 1968.</p><p>&#8220;He was often asked why he named it the Big Mac, and he said because Big Mc sounded too funny,&#8221; his son Michael Delligatti said.</p><p>However, McDonald&#8217;s in 1985 honored Esther Glickstein Rose with coming up for a name for the burger and presented her with a plaque etched with a likeness of the best-selling sandwich and french fries between the Golden Arches. She was a 21-year-old secretary for the company&#8217;s advertising department in 1967 when, the story goes, a harried executive dashing to a board meeting asked her for a name nomination.</p><p>Jim Delligatti&#8217;s family disputes that Rose came up with the idea. The company didn&#8217;t immediately clear up the dispute Wednesday.</p><p>Delligatti told The Associated Press in 2006 that McDonald&#8217;s resisted the idea at first because its simple lineup of hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries and shakes was selling well.</p><p>&#8220;They figured, why go to something else if (the original menu) was working so well?&#8221; Delligatti said then.</p><p>McDonald&#8217;s has sold billions of Big Macs since then, in more than 100 countries. When the burger turned 40, McDonald&#8217;s estimated it was selling 550 million Big Macs a year, or roughly 17 every second. Delligatti received no payment or royalties for coming up with the burger, the company said.</p><p>&#8220;Delligatti was a legendary franchisee within McDonald&#8217;s system who made a lasting impression on our brand,&#8221; the Oak Brook, Illinois-based company said Wednesday in a statement. The Big Mac &#8220;has become an iconic sandwich enjoyed by many around the world.&#8221;</p><p>Ann Dugan, a former assistant dean of the University of Pittsburgh&#8217;s Katz School of Business and an expert on business franchises, said Jim Delligatti&#8217;s genius was simple: He listened to customers who wanted a bigger burger.</p><p>&#8220;In franchising, there&#8217;s always this set playbook and you have to follow it. Jim saw an opportunity to go outside the playbook because he knew the customer,&#8221; Dugan said. &#8220;He persevered and (McDonald&#8217;s) listened, and the rest is history.&#8221;</p><p>Delligatti headed M&amp;J Management, a four-generation family business and McDonald&#8217;s franchise organization, for more than 60 years. He opened his first McDonald&#8217;s in Pittsburgh&#8217;s North Hills suburbs in 1957. In 1979, he co-founded Pittsburgh&#8217;s Ronald McDonald House, then the seventh such facility in the country, where families can stay when children travel to Pittsburgh for life-saving medical care, and he was involved in several other charities.</p><p>Delligatti also helped introduce breakfast service at McDonald&#8217;s, developing the hotcakes and sausage meal to feed hungry steelworkers on their way home from overnight shifts in the mills, his family said.</p><p>In addition to his two sons, Jim Delligatti is survived by his wife, Ellie, five grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.</p><p>The Devlin Funeral Home near Pittsburgh is handling visitation Thursday and Friday. Delligatti&#8217;s funeral will be held Saturday at St. Joseph&#8217;s Parish in O&#8217;Hara Township.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">In this Aug. 21, 2008, file photo, Big Mac creator Michael &#8220;Jim&#8221; Delligatti attends his 90th birthday party in Canonsburg, Pa. Delligatti, the Pittsburgh-area McDonald&#8217;s franchisee who created the Big Mac in 1967, has died. He was 98. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File) </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_AP16335557290045.jpg</photo0><caption0>In this Aug. 21, 2008, file photo, Big Mac creator Michael &#8220;Jim&#8221; Delligatti attends his 90th birthday party in Canonsburg, Pa. Delligatti, the Pittsburgh-area McDonald&#8217;s franchisee who created the Big Mac in 1967, has died. He was 98. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File) </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Joe Mandak</p><p>Associated Press</p></bylineMeta></div>

Creator of McDonald’s flagship sandwich, the Big Mac, dies