‘He could be counted on’: Hilton Head remembers beloved grocer Gene Martin’s generosity
More than 100 people gathered for a celebration of life late Friday to remember the legendary Hilton Head Island grocer Gene Martin, who was known for his quiet generosity and willingness to help those in need.
Friends and relatives took turns sharing memories of Martin, laughing at times and crying at others, drinking wine and enjoying the afternoon sunshine at Lowcountry Celebration Park at about 6 p.m.
Martin died on March 25 after a yearlong battle with cancer. He was 88.
“I’m going to miss him every day,” said Martin’s son, David, as a crowd of longtime Hilton Head residents looked on.
Martin is a member of the Hilton Head Island Hall of Fame: “After taking over the Red & White Supermarket (now Piggly Wiggly) in Coligny Plaza in 1969, his name quickly became synonymous with ‘giving’ and ‘yes.’ His unheralded donations of food to numerous community programs, schools, PTAs, holiday food baskets and distressed individuals set a tone for Hilton Head and set a high bar for those who followed.”
Customers also could run tabs at his store.
Bill Bollin, who ran one of the island’s premier catering companies, Ellie & Bill’s Catering, said Martin was always kind.
“He could be counted on,” Bollin said. “I asked him one time, ‘Do you ever regret having charge accounts?’ Nobody ever does that. He said no because 99% of the people paid him. It was such a generous, decent thing to do.”
Red & White, residents recalled, was the gathering spot in the 1970s for what was then a small community on Hilton Head.
“It was like going back to a grocery store in old Italian neighborhoods, because everybody knew everybody,” said Cosimo Urato, who is best known for Fratello’s, the popular Italian restaurant his family operated for 28 years.
“I moved here in ’74, and there wasn’t much here then, but the Red & White was here! Anything you needed. Oh! That was the first place I got chocolate covered ants. That was at that section where they sold some really unusual foods,” said Donna Fonseca, a retired teacher.
“(The Red & White) was our post office for many years, so you go there, you see everybody,” said Andy Twisdale, a longtime islander and Realtor at Charter One Realty. “It was just a hometown grocery store. ... Anything you wanted, he’d find it.”
Island resident Whit Langley’s first job was bagging groceries at the Coligny-area store, which is now owned by David Martin.
“We played in the same Wednesday golf group,” Langley said of Gene Martin. “It was a huge deal. He always made sure I had Wednesdays off.
“He’d always have a smile on his face, even after a bad shot.”
