Elizabeth deRosset Maybank Guérard Wright

Elizabeth deRosset Maybank Guérard Wright

Elizabeth “Libby” deRosset Maybank Guérard Wright, 93, died peacefully Thursday, August 1, 2024, at the Bishop Gadsden Episcopal Retirement Community. Her funeral service will be held Friday, August 9 in St. Philip's Church, 142 Church Street at 11:00 am. Arrangements by J. Henry Stuhr, Inc. Downtown Chapel. Inurnment will follow in the churchyard.

Born February 8, 1931, in Charleston, South Carolina, Libby was the youngest child of the late U.S. Senator Burnet Rhett Maybank and Elizabeth deRosset Myers Maybank.

After attending grade schools in Charleston and Columbia, moves necessitated by her father’s election as Governor and then U.S. Senator, Libby graduated high school in 1949 from the Holton-Arms School in Washington, D.C. She then attended Winthrop College and the University of South Carolina before moving back to Charleston. 

Libby spent every summer of her childhood in Flat Rock, North Carolina, and she loved staying on Highland Lake where she lived. She enjoyed riding horseback, swimming in Highland Lake, climbing Glassy Mountain, and picnics. Every Sunday she could be found at St. John in the Wilderness Church where she and her best friend, Alicia Rhett Walker, loved singing in the choir.

A member of St. Michael’s Church in Charleston, upon her marriage to Theodore Bogert Guérard on April 14, 1956, she moved down the block to worship at St. Philip’s where she held numerous volunteer positions, including helping in the nursery, sewing communion kneelers, helping many years with the church bazaar and the soup kitchen, and working at the Canterbury House. She was also a board member of The Women of St. Philip’s Church.

A dedicated preservationist, Libby was instrumental in organizing the Save Charleston Foundation to oppose destruction of historic buildings in the area of East Bay and Meeting streets by developers in the 1970s. Her work was essential in alerting the Charleston community to the potential loss of their heritage, and the Save Charleston Foundation was successful in stopping demolition. For that work, along with her support of several preservation organizations, she received the Three Sisters Award from Charleston’s Committee to Save the City.

While her volunteer work was rewarding, Libby most enjoyed spending time with Theodore and their children. Summers at Rockville fishing and crabbing and fall weekends in Flat Rock to see the leaves change were always appreciated. As “Yubby,” she was a devoted grandmother and always happy to share her stories when her grandchildren visited.   

Additional volunteer work included her memberships in the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in South Carolina, Ivy Garden Club, Huguenot Society of South Carolina, Charleston Museum, Save Charleston Foundation (board member), South Carolina Historical Society (board member), Preservation Society of Charleston, Historic Charleston Foundation (board member), Historic Charleston Foundation Aiken-Rhett Committee, E. Milby Burton Memorial Trust (original board member), Confederate Home and College (board member), Charleston Day School (original board member), Charleston Neighborhood Association (original board member), Gibbes Museum of Art, Historic Flat Rock, Inc. (board member), Ladies Aid Society of Flat Rock, and St. John in the Wilderness Episcopal Church in Flat Rock.

After Theodore’s death in 1997, Libby was blessed to marry Capt. Richard “Dick” Taliaferro Wright, U.S. Navy (Ret.) in 1999 until his death in 2022.

She is predeceased by her parents and her siblings Burnet Rhett Maybank, Jr. and Roberta Maybank Prioleau. She is survived by her three children: Elizabeth Guérard Parker (Donald) of Charleston, Anne Guérard Coletta (Paul) of Flat Rock, North Carolina, and Russell Guérard (Tara) of Charleston; six grandchildren: Elizabeth Parker Doddington (Everitt) of Charleston, Donald Frost Parker, Jr. (Courtney) of Mount Airy, North Carolina, John Coletta of New York, New York, Aiken Guérard, Myers Guérard, and Lila Guérard all of Charleston; and two great-grandchildren: Walker and Teddy Doddington as well as beloved nieces and nephews. Additional survivors include Dick’s children: Major Benjamin Wright, USMC Reserve (Rebecca), Christian Wright (William Rashbaum), and Elizabeth Wempe (Ken) and their families. 

Memorials may be made to St. Philip’s Church (142 Church St., Charleston, SC 29401), St. John in the Wilderness Church (P.O. Box 185, Flat Rock, NC 28731), or the Charleston Museum (360 Meeting St., Charleston, SC 29403).

The family would like to thank the Bishop Gadsden staff for the excellent care they provided Libby.

A memorial message may be sent to the family by visiting our website at www.jhenrystuhr.com.