Remembering Ben Green: Hilton Head’s beloved Captain Bajaboo’s legacy lives on
Each time Jim Reynolds drives across the bridges of Hilton Head Island, his gaze drifts across the water, and his thoughts inevitably turn to one man: Ben Green. The sight of the water has always brought Ben to mind, a man who knew these waters like no other. Now more than ever, those memories flood back.
“His fingerprints are all over it,” Reynolds said.
Ben Green, affectionately called Captain Bajaboo and Mr. Green by friends and family, died on Sunday, Dec. 8 at the age of 75.
The native islander, business owner, shrimp boat captain, philanthropist, fisherman, Vietnam veteran, culture keeper and lover of smoked ribs was a friend and mentor to all, whether they were seven or 70, said Heather Rath, a Hilton Head Island resident, who said her family’s lives would be forever changed by a man whom they shared no blood relation.
Ben dedicated his life to service. Professionally, after serving in Vietnam, he became the first African American officer on the police force in Thunderbolt, a suburb of Savannah, Georgia. But in his day to day life, his friends and family said, he led a life of giving back to his community.
Life on the water
Ben is well known on the island for creating a fishing program, On the Hook, held at the old fishing co-op at Squire Pope Community Park, where he and other volunteers taught children how to fish for years since 2016.
But his care for others extended far beyond the dock. In his many years living on the island, he touched “every layer of people you could possibly touch,” regardless of their economic situation or social background, Rath said.
Ben was drawn close to the community on the island, even as a child.
Born in 1949 in a house across from today’s Crazy Crab restaurant on Jarvis Creek, Green spent time between the island and Thunderbolt, his son, Sheldon Green, said. Living with just his mother on the island, Ben spent his youth in the households of others who took part in raising him. This is why his father always had an affinity for having a hand in mentoring the island’s youth, Sheldon said.
Not just fishing
Jim Reynolds moved to Hilton Head 10 years ago. He remembers his neighbor from three houses down, a man named Ben Green, stopping by to introduce himself. Weeks later, Reynolds walked by Ben’s house, where he was loading his pickup truck full of fishing poles. This is when he first told Reynolds about the fishing program.
On Saturday evenings, Ben and his band of volunteers taught children, and often their parents how to fish.
He started it with the help of his church, Mt. Calvary Missionary Baptist Church, and did it with the help of the Island Recreation Center, American Legion Post 49 and others.
Ben grew up on the water fishing and crabbing, so it was a great love of his, said his cousin, Galen Miller, who also volunteered with the program. It was also born out of honoring the Gullah Geechee ways of life on Hilton Head Island, said Rath.
Jayme Lopko’s children, including her son Jake, were involved with the fishing program. Coming from the Midwest Ben taught them about the significance of fishing in both his ancestors’ history and the history of the island.
Of course, it was never just about learning to fish.
Ben served as a mentor to many of the children in the program, including Jake and Rath’s three sons, Graydon, Hale and Reed. Many saw Ben as a part of their own family.
“He passed on the important lesson to my son, that it’s not what you do, it’s how you do it,” Lopko said, “You always have to do it to the best of your ability and make sure you’re proud of what you’ve done when you walk away from something.”
Even as a volunteer, Reynolds found he became a better person because of Ben’s program.
“Over the years, he taught me patience more than I ever thought I was capable of learning,” he said.
Even in the days where Ben struggled with his health, he would do everything in his power to join the fishing program, Miller said, even if all he could do was sit at the edge of the dock to say hello when the kids went by.
The fishing program was what most people thought was at the forefront of Ben’s service, but his acts of service and kindness started long before it, Sheldon said.
“He did that type of thing regularly and consistently throughout his life,” he said.
If there was anyone in the community who needed a hand, his father was there, Sheldon said. He often led efforts to help neighbors that didn’t generate much buzz like the fishing program did. Long before his efforts to repair the cemeteries after Hurricane Matthew, an effort that generated a lot of buzz, he and his father were spending their Saturday afternoons cleaning the same cemeteries.
A giving legacy
Sheldon remembers being his father’s shadow when he was a child. There was no one he considered a hero — not a professional athlete or celebrity — besides his dad. He remembered attending a parade for shrimp boaters in Thunderbolt when he was just five years old, where all of the captains jumped ship into the water. He couldn’t help but jump right in after his dad.
“That was my guy,” Sheldon said.
He remembers doing everything with his dad, from waking up at 5 o’clock in the morning to cleaning up office buildings together late into the night when Sheldon got out of practice. He always admired his father’s selflessness and tireless energy.
“My dad could work harder than any one man or any two men,” Sheldon said. “I could only hope to be and do as much as my dad.”
He left a legacy to give back to the community, Miller, Ben’s cousin who he treated as a nephew, said. Miller sits on a several committees across the island, including the Gullah-Latino Advisory Committee, continuing the spirit of service and community involvement that his cousin embodied.
Although Ben’s grace, spirit and smile are what he will remember most, he could play a mean card game of spades, Miller said. He would tell the room during game nights, before he sat down at the table he was your friend, but after, he was out to beat you.
There is a winning hand in spades called a Boston, where a player takes all 13 tricks. Miller plans on leaving Ben with a Boston so that he ends on a winning hand.
“There will never be another Ben Green,” Rath said. “Mr. Green’s impact on me and my family will stay with us for the rest of our lives. That’s the type of of person that he was.”
There will be a viewing on Saturday, Dec. 14 from 5-7 p.m. at the Compassion Funeral Service, and a celebration of life service on Sunday, Dec. 15 at 1 p.m. at Mt. Calvary Missionary Baptist Church on Squire Pope Road.
Ben Green is survived by his wife, R. Maria Green, his son, B. Sheldon Green, and one granddaughter, Olivia Madison Green, his sisters Elnora Butler(Primus), Carolyn Riley, Jacqueline Loury(Joseph), Elvena Baker and a host of loving family and friends.
This story was originally published December 13, 2024 at 3:18 PM.
