Richard Royle, the Sun Prairie businessman, who was the patriarch of the Royle Publishing enterprise in Sun Prairie, died January 6 at the age of 63.
Originally from Waterloo, Royle worked at Perry Printing prior to joining the U.S. Navy Reserves. Following his tour of duty, Royle returned home and joined his father in the newspaper business, which held several names throughout the years, including The Royle Group, Royle Communications, Royle Publishing and Royle Printing.
Under those names, the family owned and printed several publications, including The Star Countryman, the Waterloo Courier, Deerfield Independent and Dodge County Independent News as well as several other entertainment and recreation publications.
Chris Mertes, editor of The Star in Sun Prairie at the time of Royle’s death, remembered Royle in a heartfelt editorial.
“(He was) someone who was thoughtful when it mattered and ultimately came down on the side of his employees.” Mertes wrote. “Rich also struck me as a guy who was smart enough to have smart people around him — people who inevitably made him and the company look good because of their hard work and the hard work of others in the organization.”
Royle also had a passion for commercial printing. After the company’s transition into heat set Web, he had taken the company to a $40 million-plus company with more than 200 employees — and the second largest printer in Dane County.
