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William R. Weir died peacefully on April 28 at Connecticut Hospice. A longtime resident of Guilford, he was predeceased by his beloved wife, Anne Carney Weir. Bill, the son of a career US Navy officer, LCDR Luke S. Weir, and Edith Backhus Weir, was born on Sept. 15, 1928, in Manila, Philippines, while it was a US protectorate.

After a few months stay, the family moved to Japan, and then to Newport, Rhode Island and numerous other postings in Virginia and California, before settling in Philadelphia where Bill attended West Catholic High School. He was graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1950 with a degree in journalism. He moved to Kansas where he was a reporter for the Kansas City Star Sentinel. In 1951, he was drafted into the US Army, and after a brief stint with the military police, volunteered for duty in Korea during the Korean police action as an infantryman journalist, covering the stories of troops on the front lines for their local hometown papers, Stars and Stripes, and other publications.

After leaving the Army he returned to reporting in Kansas for the Topeka Star and the Manhattan Mercury-Chronicle, but then attended Boston University where he earned a master’s degree in public relations. He joined the public relations staff of the Southern New England Telephone Company in New Haven, where he met and married Anne Carney. They lived briefly in Wallingford and settled in Guilford, where they raised and are survived by three children, Alison Weir of New Haven, Joan Weir (Jim Rode) of Madison, and Bill Weir (Tanya Allen) of Wallingford.

In addition to his work at SNET as the editor of an award-winning company magazine, Bill was a freelance writer whose work appeared in, among others, Connecticut Magazine, American Heritage, Sports Illustrated, and American Rifleman. He wrote and published 15 books; titles include Written with Lead; Soldiers in the Shadows; Fatal Victories; A Well Regulated Militia; In the Shadow of the Dope Fiend; and History’s Greatest Lies. He was active in local politics, serving for many years on the Guilford Democratic Town Committee as well as on the Guilford Planning and Zoning Commission. He was an expert marksman and competed in numerous shooting competitions.

In addition to Anne, he is predeceased by his brother George Weir. In addition to his children, he is survived by his brother-in-law John Carney of Mystic; his sisters-in-law Mary Carney of Hamden and Nancy Weir of Tampa, Florida; and four grandchildren, Emma, Henry, and Will Rode, and Lincoln Weir.

A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at St. George Church, 33 Whitfield St., Guilford, on Saturday, May 11 at 9:30 a.m. Burial with Military Honors will follow in Nut Plains Cemetery, Guilford. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, 200 Executive Blvd. S #4b, Southington, CT 06489, or the Connecticut Hospice, 100 Double Beach Rd., Guilford, CT 06437. Arrangements in the care of the Guilford Funeral Home, 115 Church St., Guilford. To share a memory or leave condolences, visit www.guilfordfuneralhome.com.