David Maybank

David Maybank, junior (1931-2020)
Charleston, SC

David Maybank, junior, died on the morning of Saturday, January 25, 2020 after a brief illness. He was 88.

The relatives and friends are invited to attend his funeral services at 2:00 P.M. on Wednesday, January 29, 2020, at Saint Philips Church, 142 Church Street, Charleston, SC 29401. Burial will be private.

David Maybank, junior, was born December 2, 1931, in Charleston, South Carolina, the son of David Maybank and Marion Porcher Taber. In 1959 he married Louise Green Jenkins of Tarboro, North Carolina.

A native of Charleston, Mr. Maybank attended the Gaud School before graduating from the Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia, in 1950. He graduated from the University of Virginia in 1954, where he was a member of Beta Theta Pi, the Eli Banana Society, and served on the Interfraternity Council. At Virginia, Mr. Maybank also joined the ROTC continuing his service in the US Navy for two years after graduating, and, thereafter, in the US Naval Reserve, from which he retired with the rank of Commander.

After his time in the service, Mr. Maybank returned to Charleston. He began a long career in business, first working at the John F. Maybank Company, a cotton merchant firm founded by his grandfather. Later he purchased Maybank Fertilizer Company from his family; founded Commercial Bonded Warehouse, Inc.; and acquired Palmetto Shipping and Stevedoring Company.

An enthusiastic genealogist and historian, Mr. Maybank collaborated with College of Charleston Professor Robert P. Stockton on various history projects related to his family, the City of Charleston and the State of South Carolina.

An avid sailor, Mr. Maybank made two remarkable sailing expeditions. He sailed with his friend Dr. William Middleton on The Gambit in 1992 on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' voyage to America. The Gambit retraced the route that Christopher Columbus took from Cadiz, Spain, to San Salvador Island, The Bahamas where Christopher Columbus first made landfall in the Americas.

While on the Columbus voyage the friends resolved to sail around the world together. Three years after that voyage, in 1995, David Maybank and Benjamin Allston Moore, junior, acquired the Bon Ami, a 50' Shannon ketch, and set out to sail around the world in the Lisbon '98 World Exposition Rally. Prior to their departure, Dr. Middleton lost his struggle with cancer. The ketch was renamed The Bon Ami in his memory. The Bon Ami departed Charleston on January 2, 1997, and sailed back into Charleston Harbour on April 28, 1998. Her voyage covered more than 27,500 miles.

Mr. Maybank was an intensely committed conservationist and outdoorsman, and a tireless advocate for preserving the natural beauty of the Lowcountry. He was a collector and expert restorer of vintage cars and other early mechanical devices. He was often to be found underneath one of his beloved Ford Model T and Model A cars, wrench in hand, covered in grease.

He was a member of Saint Philip's Church, a Trustee of Roper Hospital, a Trustee Emeritus of The Spoleto Festival USA, a Trustee of the Historic Charleston Foundation, a Trustee of the Huguenot Society, and a Trustee of the Episcopal High School. Mr. Maybank belonged to several clubs and societies including The Huguenot Society of South Carolina, The Agricultural Society, The Saint Andrews Society, and The Society of the Cincinnati among others.

He is survived by his wife, Louise Green Jenkins Maybank; three sons, David Maybank III (Catherine Lynne Castleman Maybank), John Edward Frampton Maybank II, and Peter Maybank; and four grandchildren, David Maybank IV, Catherine Byron Castleman Maybank, William Francis Maybank, and John Edward Frampton Maybank III; and a sister Derrill Taber Maybank Hagood.

Mr. Maybank was preceded in death by his parents David Maybank and Marion Porcher Taber Maybank and his brother John Frampton Maybank.