06/16/2026
John Smith sent in this great link that chronicles the Hing Family’s journey to Superior and the eventual opening of Save Money Market. Which made us realize we would love to have some historic pictures of Save Money and the Spring Garden Market in the store. If anyone has any such pics please post we would love to see them!
*Opening of Save Money Market
From the Centennial, 1882-1982. Thanks Judy Houtchens (RIP)for the book.
”Mr. Superior”
Ong Chun Hing opened the first of several grocery stores in
Superior back in 1918. The slightly built but well-known figure.
often referred to simply as "O.C."， could very well have gone under
the name of "Mr. Superior.” According to old timers, he did
more to help Superior develop from a one-horse town to a more
business-oriented community than anyone outside of Magma
Copper Company. A native of Canton, China, O.C. came to Phoenix
from San Francisco in 1911 and worked in a restaurant in the
capital. In 1914 he left Phoenix and took a job as a hospital orderly
at the old town of Ray where he worked until 1918 when he came to
Superior and opened a small restaurant on the corner of Main and
Magma.
There his diligence, intelligence, and industry caught the eye of
Mr. Kearner, General Manager of Magma Copper Company. Said
he， " 0.C. Hing, you are a smart, industrious young man. How would
you like to go into the grocery business giving credit to miners and
we will stand good for every penny？” With this guarantee, he ap-
proached Mr. Joe Melezer, Sr. in Phoenix, who without hesitation
loaned this young Chinese the then enormous amount of $2,000. The
debt was paid in one year and surplus money used to build a house
for the bride to-be, this at the site of the first store, 125 Pinal
Avenue, Superior, Arizona.
In 1921 Mr. Hing returned to China to marry Helen Soo Hoo，
his bride by choice, the arrangement being aided by the traditional
"matchmaker" The proof: a happy union, a tranquil household of
fifty-seven years which produced five sons, five daughters, and
thirty-four grandchildren and one greal grandchild.
Being self-educated one of the ambitions of his life was to see
his children have opportunity in this feld, each of his children has
received a university education producing three Doctors of Juris,.
five educators, and two business men.
The 1920s were prosperous years throughout the country and
business also flourished and was good for Mr. Hing in Superior. It
was during this decade that he became a close friend of the late Col.
Boyce Thompson, Magma Copper Company geologist and eastern
fnancir. It was Thompson who later developed the artboretum，
west of Superior, into the outstanding botanical garden that bears
his name.
During the big depression of the 1930s, 0. C. kept his store open
but took time off for a vacation trip to China with his family. It was in
1932, at the height of the Depression, that O. C. Hing opened a
second store, Save Money Market, at 97 Main Street and in 1935 he
opened still a third store at 161 Main.
During World War II （he was drafted to serve in the army but
the war ended while he was enroute to Europe on a troop ship）， 0.c.
helped raise money for the US war effort and was a member of the
National Victory League. He also was a member of the Arizona Civi
Defense Council and Southwest Sheriffs and Peace Officers
Organization.
In 1945, he went into partnership with S. C. Wing and the two
opened a Save Money Market store at Coolidge, Arizona. This store
was later sold to one of his sons. Five years later, Mr. Hing acquired
the Mercantile store at Ray where another son, Ally, got his start in
the grocery business. Among the things Mr. Hing did to help
develop Superior during its earlier years were：
●Setting up the Superior Land Trust with Fred Smith and John
O'Donnell, giving Superior its first post-war subdivision as new
homes were erected. （The same trust donated land for the present
Little League Park and the community swimming pool.）
●Financing new business construction along US 60 through
Superior.
・ Helping start the Superior Loan Company.
•Financing children of friends through college at a time when
there were no such things as college loans or mortgage loans
available for mining town homes.
When his Save Money Market at 97 Main Street bumed down
in 1967.0. C. decided to retire, part time, from the grocery business：
It was during this period of semi-retirement that he helped his son，
Ally, acquire the Coleman Ice Plant property on Main Street and
build the present Save Money Discount Center.
His community activities were legion. Charter member of the
Superior Rotary Club and president 1951 and 1952, he maintained
perfect attendance receiving a diamond pin for that dedication of 37
years. Charitable, generous he constantly helped those in need and
was active in many, many civic endeavors. Referring to his many
contributions in this area the "Superior Sun" said of him， "He well
could have been called Mr. Superior.
Quote directly from one of his daughters. "He was an example
of the highest moral and spiritual standards, and commanded the
love, respect, and reverence, not only of his sons and daughters, but
of the entire community. The people whom he helped is numberless，
financially, spiritually, or in solving problems. His generosity will
never be forgotten, always giving and hardly ever taking. He was
getting so weak toward the end, but he never flagged in strength of
spirit, never complaining but only had praise for God and everyone.
He loved life and we who knew him loved him too. So his dreams
were realized"
Mr. O. C. Hing died Easter Sunday in a Phoenix hospital after a
short illness, March 1978, and is buried in San Francisco at
Woodlawn Cemetery. He was 84.
Mrs. Helen Hing was born in 1901 in Scranton, Pennsylvania
and came to Superior as a bride. She helped operate the grocery
store at 125 Pinal for 40 years. Mrs. Hing was recently honored in
San Francisco by the Chinese Women of America 1848-1982
Research Project. She was honored by the project's staff as
'mothers who had struggled through hard times in the early period
of Chinese immigration and whose life and contributions to the
Chinese American community were exemplary. She told the
newspaper she maintained strict discipline over her children, even
while singlehandedly running a general store 16 to 18 hours a day.
The most important accomplishment as a mother was teaching her
children to be honest. AII 10 of the Hing 's chidren were raised in
Superior and all graduated from Superior High School.
Alter moving to San Francisco, Mrs. Hing, 81, enrolled in
college and is now studying English.
The Hing children are Lilly， Minnie， Ally， Holly， Robert， Mary，
Grace, Joyce, John and Bill.
