Danbury’s Peter Buck, co-founder of Subway, dies at 90
Peter Buck, who became a billionaire from a small investment in the company that became Subway, has died at the age of 90.
A Subway statement did not provide immediate details about Buck’s death. His wife, Carmen Lucia Buck, died in 2003. He is survived by sons Christopher and William; daughters-in-law April and Hara; and grandchildren Sam, Emily, Oliver, Simon and James.
“He was a shining example of a dedicated, hands-on leader, and an integral member of the Subway family,” John Chidsey, CEO of Subway, said of Buck in a statement on Friday. “We are forever grateful for his countless contributions and I speak on behalf of all of us at Subway when I say that we will honor his legacy as we continue to build this incredible brand.”
Subway, which has its headquarters in Milford, credits Buck, a longtime Danbury resident, with its launch, after he suggested co-founder Fred DeLuca open a sandwich deli in Bridgeport to raise money for college tuition.
DeLuca stepped down as CEO in
May 2015, before dying of complications from cancer later that year. His sister, Suzanne Greco, had been running the company for a few years before John Chidsey was hired as her permanent replacement.
Subway is the world’s largest chain by locations, and trails only Starbucks and McDonald’s for global revenue as ranked by Verdict Food Service.
Forbes has long ranked Buck among Connecticut’s wealthiest residents. Danbury Hospital has been one beneficiary of his charitable donations with a $30 million gift to build a new patient-care building for the hospital that is today part of Nuvance Health.
“Although a man of great wealth, Dr. Buck came from modest beginnings and lived his life with great humility,” Grace Linhard, chief development officer of Nuvance, wrote in an emailed statement on Friday. “While he could have spent time in the limelight, he noted with pleasure that he could walk unnoticed on the streets of his beloved Danbury . ... Simply put, Dr. Buck was a gift to us all.”
As of June 2020, The Peter and Carmen Lucia Buck Foundation listed assets of $577 million, with PCLB having made numerous gifts to nonprofits in Danbury and Connecticut, including several million dollars to New Haven-based Achievement First. The foundation also donated to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History where Buck was a trustee.
In recent years, Buck has devoted some of his fortune to purchasing woodlands in Maine, with the goal to preserve it as “working timberland,” according to the Bangor Daily News. Subway said the trust’s land holdings in Maine total more than 1.2 million acres.
Buck also pursued his hobby of gliding and aviation through membership in the Valley Soaring Club and the Soaring Society of America.
Buck was born Dec. 19, 1930, with parents Ervin and Molly owning a farm in South Portland, Maine,
According to his obituary, Buck and his younger brother David would reminisce about getting up early on Sundays to pack crates full of lettuce, only for their father to say, “let’s get 50 more.”
After graduating in 1952 from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Buck studied nuclear physics at Columbia University, where he obtained masters and doctoral degrees. His mentors there included Charles H. Townes, who shared the Nobel Prize in physics in 1964 for his contributions to developing the laser and maser, and had a key role in the Apollo lunar program.
Buck went on to work for General Electric in Schenectady, N.Y. In 1955, he married Haydee Pinero, whose father Jesus T. Pinero was the first native governor of Puerto Rico.
Buck eventually landed in Danbury, where he worked for Nuclear Energy Services and, after going through a divorce, married Carmen
Lucia Passagem. The couple had a son, William, who was born in Danbury.
Haydee Pinero Buck died February 4, 2016, in Puerto Rico where she lived. In addition to Christopher Buck, the couple had two other children, Kenneth and Cynthia, who have died.
Haydee Pinero Buck’s 2016 obituary cites a chance meeting at a supermarket and subsequent introduction at a party that resulted in the couple making the acquaintance of Sal and Carmela DeLuca, the parents of Fred DeLuca.
Enamored with Amato’s — a franchised sub chain — Buck suggested Fred DeLuca pay for college by opening a sub shop. Pete’s Super Submarine Sandwiches opened on North Main Street in Bridgeport on Aug. 28, 1965, with a cold-cut sandwich priced at 69 cents.
“I was twice his age — I was 34,” Buck reminisced in a promotional interview compilation posted online by McConnell/Hauser. “It’s definitely fulfilling to be able to be responsible for all of the success so many of our people have had.”