I have a somewhat similar story. I joined my old guild, Innkeepers of Azeroth, a while ago, and it was absolutely amazing. I am so glad that I joined, because I saw how a guild should truly be run. The guild leader, a gnome warlock, whose tag was Bornofdemons (I can tell you because he no longer plays) was the best guild leader I've ever seen. He wasn't on all the time, sure, but he made sure things stayed under control even when he wasn't there. One of his tricks was to plant a few alts in the guild, keep them hidden except for maybe a few so we wouldn't know if he was online or not
He had put a lot into the guild: we had quite a lot of bank space and a good tabard, and the ranks were well named and regulated. The guild wasn't a really hardcore guild, no requirements, fair and sensible rules. But they did have really good raid organization, and all the officers had friends in other guilds that they could call on to get people for a raid. The glead knew a lot of the officers IRL, but found time for everyone. He ran my mage alt through Gnomer 3 times almost consecutively. Everyone was welcoming, polite, helpful; it was great. The glead always kept things interesting: contests, lottery, prizes. My level 20 pally alt won 80g in a recruiting contest! Towards the end of this summer, things started to go downhill a little. I noticed some of the people that had been recruited weren't as nice as most. The glead was falling behind a little. I asked him about it, and he was getting busy with real life, a lot was changing. He told me he was going to have to quit playing the game in a while, and offered my guild leadership. I couldn't take it. I would have, I really would have, but it was august, and my account time would run out right before school. And I couldn't play during school, thats scholastic suicide. So I recommended a few others, and he made plans for the guild, and that was that. I developed a deep hatred for Stonetalon Mts. during the last week, and talked wistfully with the guild. Then school, and I was busy for a long time. Recently, I checked the Armory, and was unsurprised but saddened to see that "Bornofdemons" had disappeared from the Anvilmar server. I was also saddened, and surprised, to find that the guild had been disbanded.
It's a real pity, I thought to myself, those guys were great. I think I might still have "Bornofdemons" on my friends list, if they aren't auto deleted.
/salute
P.S. As soon as I get a Death Knight up to 80, and get all the trinkets and mounts I have my eyes on, I am going to resurrect the guild. And it will be awesome. Look for Innkeepers of Azeroth. As... as soon as I get the time to play. *sigh*