A Sea Pines Love Story
Many people have fallen
in love with Sea Pines over the years.
But no two people have fallen in love
with Sea Pines quite the way Charles
Fraser and Mary Wyman Stone Fraser
fell in love with it, and in the process,
fell in love with one another.
It seemed at first, however, that
everyone but them knew they were
destined for one another.
As the story goes, Charles needed
a social director to entertain clients
and executives. Someone suggested
Mary Wyman Stone, whose family
was in the textile industry in Greenville.
Mary was working in Washington,
D.C. for Strom Th urmond at
the time.
When Charles contacted Harry
Dent, Thurmond’s assistant, and
asked about whether he should hire
this girl from Greenville. Dent’s reply
was, ‘Hire her? You ought to marry
her!’” Mary said. “My mother wanted
me to marry him, too” she added.
Th is was even before the two had laid
eyes on one another.“Charles sent me literature about
the company, which I quickly filed in
the trash can,” she said.
For whatever reason, Mary in
1963 agreed to work for the company,
but only for three months. Three
months turned into six months,
when Charles asked if she could stay
on a little longer.Charles and Mary never really
dated, but they spent just about every
waking moment together during
that six months as they both put in
long hours with the company during
Sea Pines’ formative years.“Charles and I were together
constantly,” she said. “It really was a
love effort.”
Back then, Mary said, there was
really weren’t many options available
except the William Hilton Inn to go
out to eat. “Charles always would
invite people to sit with him at his
table and made sure that I was always
seated there too.”
It wasn’t until right before Mary
was scheduled to leave Hilton Head
Island, that Fraser realized he might
never see her again. Charles proposed.“I think he just woke up to
the thought (of marrying me),”
Mary said.
Well, maybe Charles wasn’t as
oblivious as she made him out to be.
Mary said every time she would be
talking or socializing with a male peer,
Charles would somehow manage to
weave his way into the conversation.“Sometimes it felt like there was
a conspiracy going on,” she said.
Charles would come over with his“intellectual sword,” and before she
knew it the man would be gone. “I
told (Charles) he was being rude.”
Having accepted Charles’ proposal,
Mary returned home to
Greenville for awhile. Being away,
Mary started having doubts, which
she shared with her father. “He told
me I had go better be sure,” she said.
With that advice, Mary returned
to Hilton Head Island. “After the
drive I was exhausted and lay down
for awhile. I was waiting for Charles
to return from work. “He rounded
the steps, and right then and there I
knew. Th at was it. A deep, deep loved
dropped inside of me,” she said.
Laura Lawton Fraser, their youngest
daughter, said watching her mother
and father in action was inspiring.“Th ey had an exquisite working
relationship,” said Laura Lawton.
“Very few women could have
lived with my father,” she added.“Th ey loved each other deeply and
respected each others passion for ambitions
in life.” “I just realized he was so bright.
I fell in love with his vision,” Mary
said. “He loved the boldness in me.”
While her father brought an intellectual
aspect to their relationship
and to the family, Mary balanced it
with spirituality, having a deep faith
in Christ, Laura Lawton said.
Married Nov. 30, 1963, Mary
and Charles were married for almost
40 years. Although she never drew
a paycheck from the company after
the two were wed, Mary continued
working behind the scenes, helping
Charles turn Sea Pines into a familyoriented,
world-class resort.
And although she goes by Mary
Wyman Stone Fraser, Mary said knew
when it was appropriate to switch
hats. “I’ll always be Mrs. Charles E.
Fraser. That’s who I am,” she said.
Charles died following an explosion
of a chartered boat on Dec. 15,
2002. Today, Mary lives in Brevard,
N.C., and has a home in Atlanta.
