After 43 years of meeting the needs of residents in the Middle Road, Devonshire area, Belvin?s Grocery owner Will (Pro) Pearman is ready for retirement.

He stood up to thugs who robbed him on more occasions than he can remember, survived three heart attacks last year and even held his own against competition from bigger grocery stores and new-styled gas stations. But now, at age 73, Mr. Pearman is closing his shop at the end of the month in preparation of its sale... and a much deserved retirement.

The heart attacks, he insists, did not force his hand. Neither did the threats on his life and livelihood. Rather it was a case of knowing that the time was right to move on.

?He?s been here over 40 years and as far as I can see ?Pro? has enjoyed it,? said Mr. Pearman?s sister, Ann Medley, who travelled back from her home in New Jersey on a couple of occasions last year to help her ailing brother with the store. She has been here since October and has helped him in the store since it reopened in late November.

?A doctor said if I have another heart attack I probably won?t be around,? said Mr. Pearman.

?I had three heart attacks and three times the heart stopped. I had one in April and one the same day as Fabian.?

Mr. Pearman went to check on his store that day and was going to ride out the storm there but the ?ceiling came in and the roof went off?. On his way home he stopped by his brother Keith?s house on Chaingate Hill, having been forced to divert because of fallen trees. It was there that he started feeling unwell and asked his brother to call for an ambulance. With no ambulances able to respond, his brother was advised to get him to the hospital the best way he could.

?When I got to my brother?s house the heart started acting up with pains in my chest,? said Mr. Pearman.

It took more than a half hour for Mr. Pearman?s brother to get him to the hospital, a drive that would normally have taken three or four minutes.

?The road was blocked down by Garden Market, then we went up the road by Penhurst which was blocked by cables and we went to North Shore Road and by the distillation plant there were trees in the road,? Mr. Pearman recalled.

?We came back and the only way left was Hermitage Road.?

Eventually they got to South Shore road and there was a clearance big enough for the car to get through, something he thinks was an act of God.

?They pulled a tree out of the road by Bermuda Florist and when we got to Tee Street that was a mess and my brother had to drive the car on the sidewalk to get around the wires,? said the elderly man.

?There was another tree down on Berry Hill Road and they pulled that out of the way.?

Mr. Pearman revealed that his heart stopped beating when he was in the emergency department.

In October, shortly after becoming a Christian, Mr. Pearman had another heart attack in church, falling and hitting his head on a pew. He was unconscious for three weeks and spent seven weeks recovering.

Mr. Pearman will close the doors of the shop for the last time at the end of February and plans to sells the business.

?There is interest in buying it, but it?s not sealed,? he revealed.

?It?s not going to be closed as a business, just replace the owner. Not being selfish, but I think I?ve given enough to the store.

?My health comes first. I figure I?ve paid my service to the community, now it?s time for me. There comes a time when things come to an end... even my life one day.?

He plans to spend more time in his garden, of which he has a keen interest in growing orchids.

?There are other things I can poke around with at home, I won?t rust away,? he promised.

Mr. Pearman worked for the A1 Supermarket before purchasing Belvin?s from William Belvin at the age of 30. He decided to continue with the original name of the store and got used to being called Mr. Belvin from some of his customers.

?He was ageing and taking sick himself,? said Mr. Pearman of the previous owner.

Mr. Pearman will be fondly remembered by his customers, who can show their appreciation at a farewell party for him on February 28 at Christ Church.

?I?ve had faithful customers through the years and a lot of them like the one-on-one,? he said.

?With the big supermarkets you never see the owners. It?s the personal touch that they like.?

Mr. Pearman came face to face with robbers over the years, as his opening hours (noon to 10 p.m.) meant he was often in the store alone at night. Last year a machete-wielding thug slashed his finger as he robbed him.

?Most people work days, once upon a time there were a lot of housewives but nowadays everybody?s got a career or working somewhere,? said Mr. Pearman who found it easier to service the residents in the area by opening later at night.

The store has also had break-ins over the last few years so cameras and alarms were installed as a security measure.

On one occasion Mr. Pearman remembers being in the back of the store after closing time when he came face to face with a man carrying a machete.

?He was running with a machete and got up to me and was beating me one my back with the machete,? Mr. Pearman remembers.

?I thought I was going to bleed but he used the back part of the machete instead of the front part. Another time there were some children sitting outside on the steps, they saw the guys come in but thought they were customers.

?I never felt fearful. A lot of times it would happen so fast that the Police would ask what kind of clothes they had on, but it only seemed like seconds, then they were gone.?

Mr. Pearman?s sister, Ann, admits it will be the end of an era when the store closes. She left for the US even before her brother purchased the business. In her trips back over the years she has seen Bermuda change from the Bermuda she grew up in.

?Basically this is a good neighbourhood, with caring people because when he was in the hospital they were very concerned,? said Ms Medley.

?I have to look at it from the whole picture and weed out the bad, it is a few who make it bad for everybody. I?m sure he?s going to miss it, his feeling towards it reminds me of Paul?s last letter to Timothy... ?the day of my departure is at hand, I ran a good race, fought a good fight and followed the course?.

?It?s a fun store, an educational store because whatever happens in the neighbourhood politically is discussed here. It?s very interesting and I shall miss it myself.?

Ms Medley said she returned to Bermuda to be with her brother when he had his heart attack in April and stayed until early July. She then came back in early October and has been here ever since, but is planning to returning to her home in northwest New Jersey next month.

She describes Bermuda as being more beautiful now than decades ago with well cared for houses replacing older dwellings. But the Island?s affluency it has come at a price.

?Bermuda, in all the years I?ve come and gone, has never looked so beautiful,? she stated

?Where there used to be shacks are all fixed up, but one thing that made Bermuda when it wasn?t as affluent as it is now was the people.

?But the people?s values have gone down and I find that very hurtful. We?re gaining materially but where it counts, in values and morals, Bermuda has gone way down from the time I lived here. Bermuda has changed and if they are not careful Bermuda is going to be hurting very shortly.?

Ms Medley had an experience back in September that changed her mind about returning to Bermuda to live permanently.

?A guy came in here and didn?t like the conversation we were having ? we were talking about what we should do with these young people ? and he hit me with a plastic mineral container,? she revealed.

?The guy was about 45 or 50. My son, who is a lawyer in Washington, called the Police the next day and they said he was from St. Brendan?s and they had him in custody and would remain there.

?When I was in town about five days later who should I see coming up the street but him who said ?I?m sorry for what I did to you last week?. You tell me he is a mental case?

?I had thought about retiring here, but I don?t think so.?