Bil Keane, the man who for more than five decades drew The Family Circus cartoons that appeared in more than 1,500 newspapers across the globe, has died. He was 89 years old. His family reports that the cause was congestive heart failure.

Keane was born in Philadelphia in 1922 and taught himself to draw in high school. He started drawing the strip, which is based on his real family, in 1960.

Bil is survived by five children, nine grandchildren, and one great grandchild. He got to see all of them before he passed according to his son Jeff.