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For more than 50 years, Roy Passin spent mornings opening his restaurant, an eatery that was known for its smorgasbord of sandwiches and moved to Olde Towne Gaithersburg in 1971.

The 87-year-old owner of Roy's Place, who died Friday, trademarked the names of 214 sandwiches.

Passin of Darnestown died of congenital heart disease and other illnesses, said Rick Brindley, the restaurant's manager. Funeral services were Monday.

He is survived by his wife, Melinda T. Passin; six children, Carla Wascalus of Fredericksburg, Va., Glen Passin of Falls Church, Va., Pandora Passin of Lovettsville, Cindy Dunigan of Mount Airy, Diana Anderson of Livermore, Calif. and Jack Werren of Rochester, N.Y., sister Ethel Bulman of Chevy Chase, 15 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, according to an obituary prepared by his family.

"I remember my third-grade teacher in particular, Mrs. Allen, she used to stand behind my desk every day and look in my lunch box to see what I was eating," Pandora Passin said. "And I would think: What's the big deal? It's only lobster salad."

Her father packed her lunches until she graduated from high school, she said.

On Tuesday, longtime employees remembered Roy Passin fondly.

"He was a very intelligent man. … 'Gregarious' would be a good word. Or ‘bombastic,'" said Brindley. "He was very large and loud."

Brindley, 52, of Derwood, laughed, recalling an episode when his boss of 37 years chased a tablecloth retailer out of the restaurant — wielding a meat cleaver.

Brindley said Passin was a generous man who helped pay his son's way to college.

"He was very funny," said Teresa Carter, 49, who has waited tables at Roy's Place for 25 years. "He loved the business, which made it nice to work here."

He started his restaurant in 1955 in the old Cochran Hotel in Rockville, Brindley said. Five years later, Roy's moved across the street and became a sit-down restaurant, offering sandwiches such as the ‘‘Watzit" — beef brisket on bread.

In 1971, Roy's moved to its location on the edge of Olde Towne.

Passin grew the menu to 23 pages cooking up sandwich styles based on ingredients he had on hand — and friends made along the way. They include Passin's first sandwich, named for a neighbor's dog and trademarked "The Keswick ap Fangworthy."

On Tuesday, crowds bellied up for a sample, sending roars of laughter through Roy's Place, just the way he liked it.