Dr. Susan Candace “Candy” Guyther, 71, of Leonardtown, MD passed away on November 18, 2021 at St. Mary’s Nursing Center in Leonardtown, MD with her brother David and sisters Betsy and Mary Jo at her side.
Candy was born on December 6, 1949 in Leonardtown, MD to the late Oliver Robert Guyther and Elizabeth Reese McNey Guyther.
Candy is a lifelong resident of St. Mary’s County and a 1967 graduate of St. Mary’s Academy. She left for the University of Kentucky in Lexington, KY to pursue an Education in Animal Science. She received her Bachelors in Animal Science and then a Masters of Animal Science. While at University of Kentucky she was voted Homecoming Queen and Mountain Laurel Festival Queen. She returned to her family farm in Maryland and applied to Vet School at a time when Veterinary Medicine was predominately a male profession and more difficult to get into the Medical School! During this time she worked as a Vet Tech at Tidewater Veterinary Hospital and managed the family farm. She then got a job as the Science Teacher at Leonard Hall Jr. Naval Academy. After 6 years teaching and many applications she was admitted into Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine in New York. The Vet School was located on the island of Dominica in the Caribbean. Candy reported back with many stories from her time there. One of the most memorable was having to climb a telephone pole to phone home. Another was when the school moved to the Island of St. Kitts. The students and animals had to be transported by boat. She said it was like being on Noah’s Ark.
After graduating she returned to the States and did an internship and clinical’s in Utah. Once licensed she passed the Pennsylvania Vet board and worked for several years at Old Trail Animal Hospital in Shrewsberry, PA. She eventually passed the MD Vet board and moved home to Belvidere Farm where she opened her own practice which started with VET A PET Mobile Vet Clinic. She was the 1st to offer mobile services to the area. Many will remember the converted white Chevy truck with the VET A PET sign on the side. She then expanded and opened Beauvue Animal Hospital located on Belvidere Farm. She would see any animal from horses, dogs and cats to fish, reptiles, birds, pigs and chickens. She was able to live her passion in the heart of her favorite place on earth. BELVIDERE FARM.
For those of you that knew her well; know that she was independent, determined, strong willed and stood strong in everything she believed in. She had dedication like no one else. It was that dedication that the kept her in school and receiving her Doctorate. Animals were her absolute and number 1 priority. She took in every animal that came her way, misfit or otherwise (a 3 legged dog, a 1 eyed cat, a dog that with no hair that had been burned, a dog that had chewed its tail off and even bringing an animal back from St. Lucia that was left behind at the Vet School.)
Candy lived an interesting life, lived many places and made many friends, but she always called St. Mary’s County and Belvidere Farm her home. Living on Belvidere surrounded by our many horses, all of the other farm animals and having a few Coors Lights in the evening was where she found her most happiness, peace and serenity.
Candy is survived by her siblings: David McNey Guyther (Rebekah) of Leonardtown, MD, Helen Elizabeth “Betsy” Fritz (Rick) of Leonardtown, MD, Mary Jo Willenborg (Willie) of Leonardtown, MD; her nieces and nephews (who enjoyed going to brunch with their Aunt D on Sundays): Jack Fritz (Brooke), Brooke Fritz, Andy Guyther (Danielle), Eliot Willenborg, Allison Willenborg, and Ben Guyther; and her great niece, Ava Jo Robbins. In addition to her parents, she is also preceded in death by her older brother, Robert Oliver Guyther.
A visitation will be held on Tuesday, November 23, 2021 from 11:00am – 1:00pm, a short service with eulogies from 1:00 to 1:30 at Brinsfield Funeral Home, 22955 Hollywood Road, Leonardtown, MD 20650. Interment will follow at Our Lady’s Catholic Church Cemetery, Medleys Neck at 2:00pm.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Days End Horse Rescue, 1372 Woodbine Road, Woodbine, MD 21797, PO Box 309, Lisbon, MD 21765 (www.defhr.org) or the Animal Relief Fund (ARF), P.O. Box 184, Hollywood, MD 20636.
Condolences to the family may be made at www.brinsfieldfuneral.com.
Arrangements by the Brinsfield Funeral Home, P.A.
