Ocean Beach residents said goodbye last month to a man considered an icon in OB. Buford Seals, known as “The Candyman,” passed away at the age of 88 in San Diego on Sunday, Jan. 20, of natural causes.
For decades, Seals owned and operated Buford’s Candy Store at 1559 Abbott St. where Newbreak Coffee is now housed. He had a few incarnations of the candy stores in San Diego from 1969 to 1982.
He and his wife, Bernice, were known for wearing red and white matching Western outfits while they ran the store and even when they went out. Together, they would ride in a white limousine that had the words “The Candyman” scrawled in red across the back.
Bernice was known in her own right as a trapeze artist for Barnum & Bailey Circus in 1916. She passed away in 2000.
“Everybody knew Buford,” said Cherrie Booth, Seals’ caretaker for the last eight years.
As his full-time caretaker until about a year ago, Booth and Seals would go everywhere together. She said no matter where they went, grown men and women recognized “The Candyman.”
“Guys would come up and kiss him, and he would ask, ‘How come these men are kissing me?'” said Booth.
An entrepreneur who started his first grocery business at age 17, Seals had good business sense, Booth said. After his service in the Navy from 1942-45, he made millions operating a military surplus store following World War II.
Seals also had a hand in the creation of the Hat ‘N’ Boots service station, now a historic monument in Seattle, Booth said.
After living in Arizona for a while, Seals eventually made San Diego his home. Here he operated several candy stores in Ocean Beach, Imperial Beach and parts of Point Loma.
He became an integral part of the community as his stores stayed open 24 hours a day, making them somewhat of a local hangout, Booth said.
Many people in the community knew him.
Claudia Jack, associate director of Ocean Beach MainStreet Association, said she knew Seals for about 15 years. She said he was a “jolly gentlemen” who could find any type of candy one craved. He could always get the root beer-flavored candy she liked when no one else carried it, she said.
“He was friendly and jolly … and always had a tie,” Jack said.
Others shared the same sweet sentiment.
“He was very personable,” said Pat James, president of the Ocean Beach Historical Society. James met Seals several years ago. James spoke with Seals for an oral historical interview about Seals’ life, he said.
“He’s a real colorful character,” James said. “[He] really fit in with Ocean Beach “¦ a real creative guy.”
It was Seals’ unique personality and ability to stand out that made him so well known, said friends. Neighbors and community members would often come to him for business advice, which he was always willing to give, Booth said.
Along with his pearls of business wisdom, Seals also had a list of so-called “Bufordisms.” They were humorous one-liners that Seals would say to make others laugh and get them to think about life, she said.
Among The Candyman’s more notable Bufordisms:
“¢ “Bernice said she wanted to see the world, so I bought her a map.”
“¢ “Don’t talk about yourself. It will be done when you leave.”
“¢ “Does Bernice pick my clothes? No. Just my pockets.”
“¢ “When my wife and I have an argument I always have the last word. And it’s, ‘Sorry'”.
Booth said Seals wrote pages of his Bufordisms that he would give out to people for a laugh.
Seals is survived by two daughters, a son and two grandchildren.
Seals’ funeral services will be held at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery on Friday, Feb. 22 at 10 a.m., Booth said.