Heywood Jr. dies at the age of 87

Former president of Heywood-Wakefield Furniture Company until its closing

By Owen Boss

GARDNER— George Heywood Jr., the former president of the Heywood-Wakefield Furniture Company and lifelong Gardner resident, died Friday at Emerson Hospital in Concord at the age of 87. According to his daughter, Janet Heywood, Mr. Heywood was a descendant of one of the original five Heywood brothers that began the Heywood-Wakefield Furniture company. He grew up on Heywood Farm, which at the time was a family-run farm located on the land that is currently used for Mount Wachusett Community Colle-ge’s Gardner campus. Mr. Heywood spent the majority of his life working at the Heywood-Wakefield company, he started out on the factory floor and eventually became president of the company and chairman of the board until the factory declared bankruptcy. At the time of its closing, Heywood-Wakefield was the oldest furniture manufacturer in the country. Mr. Heywood’s grandfather can be credited for donating the money used to build the Heywood Hospital and the Heywood Library. Ms. Heywood said that over the years, her father had become something of a local Gardner historian, and was someone that knew a lot about both the history of his family and the history of the town. The family said that they will not preform an autopsy, and the cause of death was attributed to old age. The family has planned a service that will be open to public at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, April 22, at The First Congregational Church on Elm Street. oboss@thegardnernews.com

Appeared on Page 1 on 4/19/2008 (Vol. 206 No. 94)