‘That man is an angel.’ Bluffton man killed in crash remembered as Hilton Head leader

A Bluffton man who lost his life Friday in a crash on U.S. 278 left behind a lifetime of love and a legacy on Hilton Head Island.

Ernest “Bubba” Marchetti, 84, died at the scene of a crash on U.S. 278 at Moss Creek Village Drive around 2:45 p.m.

“My first thought today was that man is an angel, and he’s in heaven,” Laura Hobbs, Marchetti’s former co-worker, neighbor and friend, said Saturday.

According to his friends, Marchetti led an active life on Hilton Head where he and his wife, Blanche, lived in the Port Royal Plantation home he designed for her. The couple lived there for decades before they moved to Bluffton after Hurricane Matthew.

“They’ve been married for over 60 years,” Hobbs said. “They were the couple that everyone wants to be. You could see the twinkle in their eyes when they looked at each other.”

The couple had three children who gave them grandchildren as well.

“He doted on Blanche every single minute of every single day,” said David Brown, Marchetti’s friend. “In the last few months, he had asked me to come out and talk to him, and he was so worried about taking care of Blanche. ... You just don’t have many guys like that around anymore.”

In an Island Packet article written about the Marchettis in 1985, Elisa Krautter wrote that Marchetti made sure all of Blanche’s ideas for their Port Royal Plantation home were incorporated in the plans as it was built. When Christmas came around, he wrapped the entire house in yards of extra-wide tin foil with an enormous card that read “Merry Christmas to Blanche from Bubba.”

“Blanche was thrilled when she saw her Christmas surprise,” Krautter wrote.

Marchetti owned E.F. Marchetti & Associates, a commercial real estate company off Fording Island Road in Bluffton. He and his wife worked there together, according to Jerry Parker, who did business with him.

“I met Bubba about 25 years ago, and he had a way about him,” Parker said. “He was automatically your friend.”

Before working in commercial real estate, Marchetti owned three Shoe Tree stores on Hilton Head and a fourth in Beaufort. He also was vice president of Hilton Head Company, according to newspaper records.

In addition to his business pursuits, he served for four years on the Beaufort County school board and an additional 10 years on the former May River Academy board.

When he decided not to run for re-election, Marchetti jokingly told the newspaper in March of 1990 that his plans were “in the hands of (his) banker and (his) wife.”

But one of his greatest passions was the Week of Champions program on Hilton Head Island for children interested in athletics.

The two-week program brought in professional and college athletes from around the country for day camps for children. Marchetti and his wife were heavily involved in the activities within the camp, Brown said.

“(Marchetti) was just one of those guys who led by example,” Brown said. “That’s probably what most of us remember about Bubba. You just wanted to be around him.”

They also will remember his faith, Brown said.

“He wasn’t one to wear Christianity on his sleeve and not truly follow that,” Brown said. “There are a lot of people who like to wear it on their sleeves but can’t walk the walk. Bubba walked the walk like no one I knew. ... We are going to miss the old guy, but I know he’s with the Lord, which is who he wanted to be with.”

The crash investigation

Marchetti was not wearing a seat belt when his 2000 Lexus SUV turned from eastbound U.S. 278 onto Moss Creek Village Drive and was struck by a westbound driver in a 2014 GMC pickup, Lance Cpl. Judd Jones of the S.C. Highway Patrol said Friday.

The driver of the pickup, a 34-year-old Bluffton man who was wearing a seat belt, was not injured.

As of Saturday, no charges had been filed in connection with the crash, Jones said. The investigation is ongoing.

This story was originally published July 21, 2018 at 5:50 PM.