Businessman, humanitarian Dick Littlejohn dies at age 85

Prominent local businessman and beloved humanitarian Broadus Richard Littlejohn Jr. passed away at his home Monday. He was 85.

The former chairman and president of Spartanburg-based Community Cash Stores, Dick Littlejohn was the recipient of multiple civic and philanthropic awards.

Throughout his life, Littlejohn served as a mentor for youths, many of whom are now successful professionals in the Upstate.

“His greatest legacy was not as a businessman,” said U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-SC. “He personified unconditional love. He had a remarkable heart for people who didn't have a lot going for them.”

Gowdy recalled working for Littlejohn when he was teenager, first in one of Littlejohn's grocery stores and then later in the company's warehouse, where he was meant to learn lessons about hard work and racial equality.

“There will never be anyone like him,” Gowdy said. “He was deeply spiritual, but there was no religiosity about him at all. He was eccentric and enigmatic. He had the sharpest mind and kindest heart of anyone I've ever met. You will find people scattered all over Spartanburg who have been impacted by Mr. Littlejohn.”

Described by Gowdy as “a history teacher trapped in a grocery store executive's body,” Littlejohn attended The Citadel and served in the Navy during World War II.

His father, Broadus R. Littlejohn Sr., founder and president of Community Cash, was also a well-known local philanthropist and civic leader.

Littlejohn returned from the war and began working with his father in 1946. He spent the next several years helping to grow the company into one of the most successful grocery chains in the Upstate.

A lifelong member of First Baptist Spartanburg, Littlejohn spent his time away from work pursuing two of his passions: collecting historic knowledge and memorabilia and mentoring young men.

He was a leader in the church's youth program for 50 years.

The Rev. Seth Buckley, minister to students at FBS, said he always greeted Littlejohn with “Oh Captain, My Captain,” a metaphor from Walt Whitman's tribute poem to assassinated President Abraham Lincoln and popularized by the movie “Dead Poets Society.”

“He was the first person who welcomed me and made me feel like what I did really mattered,” Buckley said. “He always looked for a way to bring out the best in a young man. He believed in those who everybody else had given up on. He was a mentor before the term mentoring was en vogue.”

Littlejohn would organize trips for youths from the church that included stops at historically significant sites across the world, Buckley said. He would pay for the trips out of his own pocket.

“He was the embodiment of servitude,” Buckley said. “Despite his notoriety and stature in the business community, he never saw that as his true calling. There are not many businessmen who get that today.”

One of his other important contributions to the community was the Littlejohn collection he donated to Wofford College. It contains historic manuscripts, archival collections, archival ephemera, historic pamphlets, autographs, historical objects, more than a thousand books.

A majority of the materials in the collection are concerned with or date from the Civil War era. But the breadth of it reaches from the late colonial period through the end of the 20th century.

“Ultimately, I think it could be said that he had a great appreciation for the human experience,” said Luke Meagher, special collections librarian at Wofford. “He had a lot of admiration for people who struggled or died for what they believed in.”

In 1968, Littlejohn received the Sertoma Service to Mankind award for helping to establish an orphanage in Sudan.

He was honored by the Piedmont Food Brokers Association for his contributions to the industry in the Upstate.

Littlejohn was given the Distinguished Service Award from Spartanburg Methodist College in 1981 and was also elected director of the board of the national Food Marketing Institute that year. He served on the board of the Carolina Environmental Coalition as well.

“The term unconditional love is thrown around a lot, but in this case it rings true,” Gowdy said. “He understood what it was like to be an outsider. I know he is in a much better place now.”

Littlejohn is survived by his wife, Margaret, son, Rick, a daughter, Anne, and several grandchildren.

The family will receive friends Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m. at Dunbar Funeral Home.

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Monday in the sanctuary of First Baptist Spartanburg.