Charles E. Fraser, 73; Influential Developer of Hilton Head Island

Developer Charles E. Fraser, whose vision helped transform South Carolina’s Hilton Head Island from a sparsely populated sea island into a world-class resort, died Dec. 15 in a boating accident south of the Bahamas. He was 73.

Fraser and his wife, Mary Wyman Stone Fraser, were on a day trip on a chartered boat, the Sundance, out of the Turks and Caicos Islands when an explosion threw them and two other passengers into the sea. Mary Fraser was injured but survived.

An alumnus of the University of Georgia, Fraser graduated from Yale Law School in 1953 and, four years later, created Sea Pines Plantation, a luxurious master-planned residential development and resort on Hilton Head Island, at the southern tip of the state near Savannah, Ga. The development made an important tourist destination and golf center out of an island that had previously had just a hunting lodge and a few resident farmers and fishermen.

In the decades since, Hilton Head has grown to become the ninth-largest city in South Carolina, with a population of almost 34,000, and attracts millions of vacationers a year.

With its golf courses, gated subdivisions, multimillion-dollar beach homes, boutiques and restaurants, it became a model for resort communities around the world.

Under his leadership, Fraser’s company also planned and initiated development of Amelia Island Plantation in Florida; River Hills Plantation and Kiawah Island Resort in South Carolina; Brandermill in Chesterfield County, Va.; and Palmas del Mar in Puerto Rico.

Fraser was chairman of Sea Pines from 1956 through 1983. At the time of his death, he was president of Charles E. Fraser Co., which provides planning services to developers. He and his family were also instrumental in creating the Heritage Classic, a PGA-sponsored event on Hilton Head, in 1969.

In addition to his wife, Fraser’s survivors include two daughters, a brother and six grandchildren.