Burt Katz, owner of Burt's Place pizzeria & Famous for his Extra Large Sausage, dies at 78 - will be cremated in a big pizza oven and his ashes spread over the Pizza Sea in Italy

Burt Katz, the pizza maker and co-owner of Burt’s Place restaurant in Morton Grove, died Saturday at 78, according to his daughter, Andi Bannister.

Katz, who owned the pizzeria with his wife Sharon, found worldwide fame after a visit from food writer and TV food travel star Anthony Bourdain. But Burt's Place was beloved by generations of regular customers who followed Katz throughout his 52 years in the pizza business.

“Perhaps not since Ike Sewell and Rudy Malnati has there been a figure in Chicago pizza as towering as Burt Katz,” wrote fromer Tribune reporter Kevin Pang when Katz officially announced the closing of Burt’s Place on Oct. 29, 2015.

Katz is survived by wife Sharon Katz, daughters Ean Katz-Woodbury and Andi Bannister, and son Adam Katz.