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04/07/2021 09:00 AMSue and Lou Weady have, in some very important ways, never left Guilford. Their lives, their family, their interests remained in the town even when they weren’t physically present. Both passed away in the last few years—Lou in 2014, and Sue in 2017, having jointly spent decades dedicated to their business, Royal Printing Service, and more important, participating in their community.
The Weadys will remain a presence in the town, as their legacy of philanthropy, service, and love for Guilford lives on in part through a nearly $1 million bequest to the Guilford Foundation, the largest ever single gift “by far,” according to foundation Executive Director Liza Petra, and one that their daughter, Deb Rynn, said is part of the Weadys’ simple, life-long commitment to being good neighbors.
“They were always big supporters of community. They loved arts, they loved education, they loved to give back,” said Rynn. “They always looked for ways to be a part of the community.”
Rynn said the Weadys were always the first to sponsor a high school fundraiser, drop a donation for a local artist, or speak out in support of the Guilford Agricultural Society—a special love and local passion.
In the same way, the bequest came almost as a surprise—an under-the-radar, gesture focused outward rather than trying to pull the spotlight back to themselves, according to Petra.
Though they did direct some of the money be placed in particular funds within the foundation, including an endowment they had already established to support the agricultural society, the majority of the money was dedicated to the general fund, which Petra said showed the Weadys’ trust in the long-term wellbeing of Guilford as a community.
For the last year or so, the Guilford Foundation has been at the forefront of many efforts to help local residents who are struggling and support non-profits and businesses who have suffered during the pandemic. But Petra said this gift was much more than a stop-gap infusion of cash and would help continue the foundation’s support of a multitude of local initiatives and entities for many years.
“The foresight of just wanting to ensure that these activities and organizations that they loved in the present day have the resources forever—they ensured that these organizations will be supported forever,” she said.
Lou and Sue Weady, after having been high-school sweethearts in Guilford, somewhat “went their separate ways,” according to Rynn. She traveled to California in the 1960s and wanted to see the world, and he “wanted to make his millions” closer to home.
They eventually did marry in 1989, Rynn said, and settled down in Guilford, together running Royal Printing, where they continued to work until their deaths, neither having the kind of personality that fit into a quiet retirement.
“How many husbands and wives can work together?” Rynn asked, laughing. “And they weren’t always perfect...They made a pact when they started working together in 1992 that work stayed at work.”
Keeping the focus on their employees, their customers, and the needs of their community rather than on themselves was a lifelong commitment, Rynn said. She said both Weadys worked hard to ensure continuity when they passed and that they were no major disruptions to any aspect of the business or their philanthropic endeavors.
Rynn described Sue and Lou Weady as especially zealous supporters of the Guilford Fair and the broader goals of the Guilford Agricultural Society as they spent many years across the street from the fairgrounds.
“They valued what the fair, what the agricultural society stood for. It was a tradition in the way of life and the way of the town, and the way of the people who were a part of it,” she said.
At one point some years ago, when the agricultural society was involved in a dispute with several property owners, Sue Weady went door-to-door to lobby on their behalf, according to Rynn.
“She wanted to see [the fair] to be able to continue for the generations that are coming,” she said.
The Guilford Fair was canceled for the first time in more than 70 years due to the pandemic, but the agricultural society recently announced there will be a fair in 2021.
Education and the arts were also passions of the Weadys, according to Rynn, with Sue Weady going back to get her master’s degree working full time while Rynn was still in high school. Guilford High School scholarships or plays, Orchestra New England in New Haven, and many others regional and local arts were all things held dear by the Weadys, Rynn said.
“That is something they will always be remembered for,” she said.
They also used their business in small or large ways, either through spreading awareness by way of their extensive local connections, or through something as simple as printing raffle tickets for an event.
“The business was a place to have that solid foothold in the Guilford community,” Rynn said. “It was nice to hear that they were so well-received in what they did, and it was never not appreciated—any contributions, they gave quietly. They were never out for vast recognition.”
Rynn said that this was the real legacy and message she hoped was conveyed along with the $1 million dedication to local causes: a focus on the opportunities, the culture, and the brightness of life that Lou and Sue Weady both enjoyed in Guilford.
“They were able to experience and share and give,” Rynn said. “They had a passion for life.”
“They lived a very down to earth life,” Petra said. “It’s just this profound recognition that anyone can be a philanthropist...They left so much to us, and without any hint of it at all. That says something, I think, pretty serious about their character, about their intent to do good but not to necessarily have to be recognized for doing good.”