Oscar Frazier Day celebrated at Oyster Factory Park in Bluffton

The family of Oscar Frazier along with friends and many from the community gathered at Oyster Factory Park in Bluffton Friday to remember a man many said had a love for his community unlike any they had ever known.

"You'll never find one person who didn't like him," said Bluffton Mayor Lisa Sulka, who credits Frazier for getting her involved in politics.

As Sulka tells it, before she decided to run for town council, she would run in to Frazier, then Bluffton's mayor pro tem, at the post office around the same time every day.

"And every time I saw him, he'd ask if I was going to run," she said laughing. "He would say, 'If you will run, I will walk hand-in-hand with you.' And he did."

Friday's festivities, which included fried fish and live music, were a way for many, like Sulka, to honor the memory of Frazier, who died suddenly at the age of 49, from clear-cell sarcoma, a rare form of cancer.

A community leader with a seemingly inexhaustible supply of energy, Frazier served on the boards of numerous civic and community groups. He started several small businesses, including Oscar's Barbecue in downtown Bluffton; was a deacon at Bible Missionary Baptist Church, a church he helped co-found; and was a coach who, in his spare time, lobbied for more soccer, football and baseball fields.

And, as if those pursuits weren't enough, he was a published poet and poet laureate of Bluffton.

"I don't know where he found the time to do all those things," said his daughter Bridgette Frazier, who along with many of Frazier's extended family, was on hand for Friday's celebration.

While the original date for the event honoring his memory was rained out, the event marked the 10th anniversary of the declaration of Oscar J. Frazier Day, Frazier said. The family hopes to continue the commemorations in years to come.

"The hope behind it is not just to remember him but to encourage those in the community to step out and give back to their community," she said. "He was obviously very involved in the community, and we would just like to see everyone come together."

Bridgette Frazier, who is a Beaufort County school teacher and owner of her own catering business, said it was that example -- of a man who was endlessly devoted to his family as well as his community -- that the family would like to continue in years to come.

"Because we have a responsibility to each other," she said. "That's the idea we want to foster and keep going."

Follow reporter Mindy Lucas at twitter.com/MindyatIPBG.

This story was originally published September 4, 2015 at 8:55 PM with the headline "Oscar Frazier Day celebrated at Oyster Factory Park in Bluffton."