Name: Bert McDonough retires from Beaver Head light-station service, 1961
Start: 1961-09
End: 1961-09
Location: Beaver Island Light Station

Event

Date: 1961-09
Kind: Closure
Where: Beaver Island Light Station
Participants: Bertrand J. "Bert" McDonough (retiree)
Eras: Modern era
Concepts: maritimelighthousesgovernancecommunity
Within: Beaver Island

Summary

Bert J. McDonough retired from lighthouse service in September 1961 after 33½ years. The Beaver Beacon says he served with the Beaver Head light station and remained its caretaker after automation in 1958, and that the Coast Guard presented him with the Albert Gallatin award at a Charlevoix ceremony.

Evidence and limits

The article is a local retirement notice. It does not establish McDonough’s complete Coast Guard rank, service file, award citation, or exact employment dates at the station.

Sources

Beaver Beacon, September 1961, “Retirement.”
Reports Bert J. McDonough retiring after 33 and one-half years in lighthouse service, including service with the Beaver Head light station and later caretaker work after the station became automatic in 1958. It says he received the Albert Gallatin award at a Charlevoix ceremony but supplies no Coast Guard personnel file.
data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1961-09_Beaver-Beacon
Beaver Beacon, September 1961, held issue PDF, source scan.
The held seven-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1961-09_Beaver-Beacon

Added 1 August 2026 · revised 3 August 2026. Recent changes

Cite this article

Beaver Island Archive, “Bert McDonough retires from Beaver Head light-station service, 1961”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/events/bert-mcdonough-lighthouse-service-retirement-1961/, accessed [date], citing Beaver Beacon, September 1961, “Retirement.” (and 1 further source listed on the page).

Last revised 2026-08-03. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.

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