Guy Winston de Gaillard de la Valdene, 1944-2023

[Harry Merritt]

Guy Winston de Gaillard de la Valdene, scion of the barons Wimborne and an heir to the vast Phipps steel fortune, died in Florida, March 31, 2023. He was born May 8, 1944, the son of Diana Henrietta Guest (1909-94) and her second husband, Comte Jean de la Valdene (1895-1977). Diana Guest was the daughter of Capt. Hon. Frederick Edward Churchill Guest, CBE, MP (1875-1937), a younger son of Ivor Bertie Guest, 1st Baron Wimborne (1835-1914) and Lady Cornelia Henrietta Maria Spencer-Churchill, Baroness Wimborne (1847-1927) [aunt of Sir Winston Churchill]. Her mother was Amelia Franks "Amy" (Phipps) Guest (1876-1959), daughter of steel tycoon Henry Phipps (1839-1930), business partner of Andrew Carnegie.

Guy de la Valdene, a photographer, filmmaker and author of several books on hunting and fishing, was predeceased by his wife Therese (Anderson) (1941-2020) and his daughter Valerie Elaine (1966-shot to death in the Galapagos Islands, 2014). Survivors include a son Jean Pierre (1967), called Johnny, of Dallas, Texas, and Johnny's five children.

(An article in The Washington Post (Sept. 7, 2023) about a group of filmmaker friends, including Guy de la Valdene, mentioned that he had died this year. I tracked the date from several sources.)