Family of Hartwell Entrepreneur and Community Servant Grateful For Support After His Passing

The family of a well-loved entrepreneur, barbecue cook, and community servant is expressing deep gratitude for the outpouring of support after his untimely passing. On Saturday, relatives of Cedric Juan “Satchamo” Martin held memorial services for him at the Christian Worship Assembly in Hartwell. Martin died on Monday, September 26, at AnMed Medical Center. He was 62.  Martin, along with his brother Melvin owned Satchamo’s Grilling Sauces.

Martin’s sister, Shala Chapman, says she and her didn’t realize what a “celebrity” Satchamo was until his death.

“The love shown to our family is amazing!  There’s people telling us the different things they said he did for them. It wasn’t a surprise to us, but it was amazing to hear it!  I mean, that’s all we’ve been given, the things that Cedrick did for certain people.  My brother was a big impact on a lot of people’s life.  I knew he was loved but I never knew he was loved that much until all of this.”

Chapman, who is the youngest of five siblings says Satchamo was more of a father-figure and protector.

“As a child I used to tell him, ‘Oh, you make me so sick!’ because he was so strict.  But as I grew up, I used to tell him ‘I appreciate what you taught me and why you were like you were ‘because it makes better sense now as an adult why you were so strict when I was younger.'”

Not only did Satchamo mentor to his baby sister, he mentored and helped many people in the community including kids.  In fact, Chapman says the Hart Youth Development Resource Association, better known as H.Y.D.R.A., was one of Satchamo’s favorite non-profits. If you would like to make a donation to H.Y.D.R.A in Satchamo’s memory, you can do so at hartwellhydra.org.

Chapman says while Satchamo was in the hospital the last weekend in September, he told the staff as soon as he got out, he was going to cook for everyone at AnMed as token of his gratitude.  While sadly Satchamo did not survive his illness, the family still plans to honor his last wish with a barbecue celebration for the doctors, nurses, and staff.