Burt Shavitz, the eccentric co-founder of Burt's Bees, died on Sunday at age 80.

A spokesperson for the company told ABC News that Shavitz died of respiratory complications in Bangor surrounded by family and friends.

Shavitz and Roxanne Quimby founded the cosmetics company in the 1980s. The pair famously met when Quimby, a single mother and back-to-the-lander, was hitchhiking in Maine. They became business partners, selling candles made from the beeswax provided by Shavit's bees.

The company then moved to North Carolina in 1994. Clorox bought the company in 2007 for $925 million.

Shavitz was the subject of a 2014 documentary, "Burt's Buzz."

The company released the statement below on its Facebook page:

It is with broken hearts that we must convey the saddest news: Burt Shavitz, our co-founder and namesake, has left for...

Posted by Burt's Bees on Sunday, July 5, 2015

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