(CNN) Lee Mendelson, the longtime executive producer of numerous specials for the TV animated series "Peanuts," has died, his family said.

The producer, 86, passed away at his San Francisco Bay Area home on Christmas Day, his son Jason Mendelson told CNN.

He died of congestive heart failure after a long battle with cancer, his son said.

Mendelson, originally from San Francisco, was known for his work in "A Charlie Brown Christmas," the first animated special featuring "Peanuts" characters. The producer wrote the lyrics to the special's song "Christmas Time is Here."

"We are very sad to lose our wonderful father, but Lee would have said it was serendipitous to pass on Christmas when the song he wrote with Vince Guaraldi is being heard everywhere and the program he created with Charles Schulz and Bill Melendez is being celebrated around the world," Jason Mendelson told CNN.

Read More