The late Harry Lindo was a young Bermudian boy who worked with his Portuguese father, Manuel, at a slaughter house in Devonshire Bay in the early 1940s.

Manuel DeMello Lindo was from the Azores and his wife, Mary Moniz was a Portuguese Bermudian.

Little did Harry know that his work experience with his father would prepare him and his heirs for a prosperous future.

Young Harry married Marion Lutzie, an American from Pittsburgh in 1946.

Miss Lutzie was visiting her brother, Mike in the service here in 1945, when her brother introduced her to Harry.

Interestingly, the two families were attracted to each other as Harry Lindo's sister, Esther, married the American Service brother, Mike Lutzie.

Harry and his beloved Marion lived in a cottage at Garthowen Estate where they did farming and raised animals for food.

The couple had three daughters there: Marilyn, Catherine and Sharon.

Daughter Sharon Smith reflected: "We had a wonderful family life and we grew up working as a family and as children we all had our chores to do.'' Harry Lindo supported his young family through the trade his father had taught him.

He sold freshly slaughtered meat and home grown vegetables on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from a small detached building with a tin roof on the property.

"Our father was well known all over the Island and people would come to buy his meat. He was a wheeler dealer when it came to cattle and pigs.

"He was very likeable and had a lot of friends,'' recalled his daughter Sharon.

Life was going along just fine until the family received notification to vacate in 1960.

The family was surprised but Marion Lindo, the money manager in the family, secured a loan from the bank to build Lindo's Market and their new home above the shop on Watlington Road.

The Lindos were very proud of their new little two-room grocery store and home.

By today's standards the store was not that large, about 500 square feet. They believed in providing their customers with quality foods and friendly personal service.

The customer, always greeted by name, would come into the store and tell the counter person what they wished and the counter person would run around and collect the items.

It was a mom and pop operation and they sold milk, bread, cheese, and meats, particularly the Portuguese sausage made by Mr. Lindo.

The items would all be mathematically calculated by hand with a pencil and a piece of paper. There was neither a calculator nor a cash register in the beginning. The items would be wrapped in brown paper sealed with string. This is the way it was for most businesses of the era.

Before long the Lindo girls married husbands who also joined the family business and things rapidly began to progress.

Giorgio Zanol, the president, recounted how the store expanded from 500 square beet in the 1960s to 12,500 square feet in the 1980s.

In 1981 Lindo's Market was incorporated and a second supermarket was acquired in 1993. It is located in Warwick, the former Giant Foods, and renamed Lindo's Family Foods.

Lindo's is truly a family business. Giorgio and Marilyn Zanol, William and Cassie Moniz and James and Sharon Smith are the founding directors.

Most of their children, and some of their spouses are responsible for managing all aspects of the two stores.

Their names are: Marco Zanol, Andre and Cherie-Lyn Zanol, Fabrizio and Carrie Alvera, Christopher and Victoria Smith, Zachary Moniz and Rebecca Wescom.

"Their wealth of knowledge and expertise blends well with the experience and work ethic of their parents,'' prides Cassie Moniz. "Thus you have a very well run, high-tech, fast moving, corporate entity.'' Lindo's customers come from all over the island. Some still fondly remember Harry, who passed away in 1993, and the way things used to be.

There are plans for a major expansion in the year 2000! The Lindo family attributes their success to the inspiring example that was given to them by their parents and grandparents, Harry and Marion Lindo.

The late Harry Lindo and wife, Marion Lindo, founders of Lindo's Market and Family Foods.