- Dates
- 1973-10-28 – 1973-10-29
- Kind
- Burial
- Where
- Holy Cross Catholic Church · Holy Cross Cemetery
- Participants
- Patrick J. Bonner (deceased)
- Carried out by
- Holy Cross Catholic Church
- Eras
- Modern era
- Concepts
- demographyreligionheritagemusic-folklore
- Within
- Beaver Island
Summary
Patrick J. Bonner, whom the Beaver Beacon called Beaver Island’s “celebrated Irish fiddler,” died October 26, 1973, at Leelanau Memorial Hospital. A rosary was held October 28 at the Bonner home; Rev. Herbert Graf officiated at the October 29 Holy Cross Church funeral, and Bonner was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery.
History and evidence
Born on Beaver Island November 7, 1882, Bonner learned and preserved Irish tunes. He played an early-1700s violin whose Stradivari label was unverified, and played for island weddings and celebrations. The obituary says the University of Michigan invited him to Ann Arbor to make archive tapes of his Irish music. It also describes his friendship with Feodor Protar and his role as an unofficial custodian and guide to Protar’s home and tomb.
Limits
The newspaper is not a civil death certificate, recording catalog, instrument authentication, or cemetery register. The University archive tapes are not individually identified in the held source.
Sources
- Reports Bonner’s October 26 death at Leelanau Memorial Hospital, October 28 rosary, October 29 Holy Cross Church funeral with Rev. Herbert Graf officiating, and Holy Cross Cemetery burial. The obituary also preserves his Irish music, Protar, and University of Michigan archive connections.data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1973-11_Beaver-Beacon
- The held ten-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 · 1973-11_Beaver-Beacon
Added 1 August 2026 · revised 3 August 2026. Recent changes
Cite this article
Beaver Island Archive, “Funeral and burial of Patrick J. Bonner, 1973”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/events/funeral-and-burial-of-patrick-j-bonner-1973/, accessed [date], citing Beaver Beacon, November 1973, “Obituaries: Patrick J. Bonner.” (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.
BibTeX for “Funeral and burial of Patrick J. Bonner, 1973”RIS for “Funeral and burial of Patrick J. Bonner, 1973”