Sam Sniderman, who died last week, spent summers on P.E.I. (CBC)

The family of Sam Sniderman, best known as founder of the record store chain Sam the Record Man, has set up a memorial fund in his name for Charlottetown's Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

The donation message in Sniderman's obituary ran in many major papers in the country last week: in lieu of flowers please give to the Memorial Fund for P.E.I.'s Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

Sam's son Jason said the family first gave money to the P.E.I. Cancer Treatment Centre three years ago, after his late step mother got care for ovarian cancer there during summers on the Island.

"Not a slam against Toronto, but the amount of care she got in Charlottetown was just over the top," he said.

"It's important for us to give back to the places that were so instrumental in making this part of our lives more bearable."

Fundraising staff at the QEH were surprised by the news. Oncologist Dagny Dryer said the money could make a huge difference.

"I'm really overwhelmed. I just think that's a very generous thing on the part of the family, and we feel very grateful for that," said Dryer.

The Sniderman family is also pledging any profit from wine made from grapes Sam Sniderman planted in eastern P.E.I. five years ago. This year is the first harvest, and Jason shared that news with his dad the day before he died.

"His face just lit up," he said.

"He had been kind of in and out of consciousness, but I told him this - that we might have wine this year -and he was, like, so over the top."