- Born
- 1922-01-19
- Died
- 1988-07-28
- Work
- Cemetery maintenance worker · U.S. Navy, World War II service · Founder, construction company (builder of Holy Cross Parish Hall, Beaver Island Community School work, church and rectory work, several homes, and the McCafferty Inn) · Trustee, Peaine Township
- Spouse
- Madonna McCafferty
- Children
- Karen L. McCafferty · Daniel McCafferty · James McCafferty · John Gerard McCafferty
- Siblings
- Arthur J. "Lano" McCafferty
- Eras
- Modern era
- Concepts
- communitycatholicismheritageconstructionmilitary
- Within
- Beaver Island
Summary
John Bernard “Bing” McCafferty (1922–1988) was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, to James Arthur and Elizabeth Tetzloff McCafferty, and moved with his family to Beaver Island as a small child. He served in the U.S. Navy in the Second World War, married Madonna McDonough at Holy Cross Catholic Church in 1949, and raised seven children with her, first in Chicago and, after the family’s 1968 return to the island, at Beaver Island. His construction company, begun that year, is credited by his obituary with building the parish hall, work on the community school and church and rectory, several island homes, and the McCafferty Inn. He also took over Holy Cross Parish Cemetery maintenance in 1974 and served as a Peaine Township trustee. He died July 28, 1988, in Petoskey.
History
Bing McCafferty was born January 19, 1922, in Greenwich, Connecticut, and his family moved to Beaver Island while he was still a small child, according to his obituary in the August 1988 Beacon. After high school he joined the U.S. Navy and served during the Second World War. On April 30, 1949, he married Madonna McDonough, daughter of Bert and Mary McDonough of St. James, at Holy Cross Catholic Church.
In 1950 the couple moved to Chicago, where Bing worked for Jack Boyle, and there and after their 1968 return to the island they raised seven children: Donna (later Mrs. Lawrence “Larry” Kubick of Lansing, Illinois), James (Los Angeles), Colleen (later Mrs. Joseph “Buddy” Martin, Beaver Island), Karen (later Mrs. James Wojan, Beaver Island), John (Mt. Pleasant, Michigan), Lynn (later Mrs. Stacy Boyd, Highland, Indiana), and Daniel (Troy, Michigan). Three of these children, Donna, Colleen, and Lynn, are documented here for the first time from the obituary and do not yet have their own articles; the other four were already independently documented from Beacon school and wedding notices of the 1970s.
The family’s 1968 return to Beaver Island coincided with Bing’s founding of a construction company. His obituary credits the firm, without giving individual project dates, with building the parish hall, work on the Community School, the church, and the rectory, several island homes, and the McCafferty Inn — “when we go to the parish hall; the community school; the church; and the rectory; when we see the various homes he built; the McCafferty Inn, we can be assured that Bing will be remembered.” In 1974, the May–June Beacon reports that the McCaffertys took over Holy Cross Parish Cemetery maintenance after Bob McGlocklin could no longer continue, and the same year’s November election results list him as a Peaine Township trustee. Neither notice records a contract, schedule, compensation, vote total, or term of service.
Bing McCafferty died July 28, 1988, at the Little Traverse Division of Northern Michigan Hospital in Petoskey. The funeral Mass was held Saturday, July 30, 1988, at Holy Cross Catholic Church, with Father Herbert Graff officiating, and burial followed at Holy Cross Cemetery. His obituary, written by Phyllis Moore, lists survivors beyond his wife and seven children: twelve grandchildren; his mother, remarried and recorded as Mrs. Elizabeth Mooney of Beaver Island; and five brothers — Arthur “Lano” of Beaver Island, Francis of Toledo, Ohio, and Donald of Chicago as full brothers, and, through their mother’s remarriage, half-brothers Eugene Mooney of Detroit and LaDonis Mooney of Beaver Island.
Significance
McCafferty’s construction firm put up or worked on several of Beaver Island’s central institutional buildings during the 1970s and 1980s, including the parish hall, the community school, the church, and the rectory, making him one of the more consequential builders documented in the held Beacon record for that period, alongside his unpaid civic service on Peaine Township’s board and at the parish cemetery.
Evidence and limits
The February 1962 birth notice for John Gerard McCafferty names the father as “Bernard McCafferty” of Chicago, married to “the former Madonna McDonough” — the same wife named for Bing in the cemetery record, in the May 1974 school chaperone list (“Bing and Madonna McCafferty”), and in the 1988 obituary, which independently confirms “Bernard” as part of his given name (“John Bernard ‘Bing’ McCafferty”), settling what an earlier version of this record could only infer. The cemetery record’s two brothers, Arthur J. “Lano” and Donald R. McCafferty, are both confirmed by the obituary, which adds a third full brother, Francis of Toledo, not previously documented here, and two half-brothers through the mother’s remarriage to a Mr. Mooney.
The September 1974 wedding report for Bing’s daughter Karen prints her father’s name as “James B. McCafferty” rather than “John B.” Her brothers named in that same article, Daniel and James McCafferty, match exactly two of the seven children the obituary lists, so the discrepancy is treated as a probable typographical error rather than evidence of a second McCafferty father. The obituary is a family and community account written for publication, not a civil record; it gives no exact marriage or move dates beyond “1950” and “1968,” no construction-project dates, and no cause of death beyond the hospital named.
Open questions
- What were the terms and duration of the cemetery maintenance arrangement, and of Bing’s Peaine Township trusteeship?
- What specific buildings, beyond those the obituary names, did McCafferty’s construction company build or work on, and over what years?
- Do Donna Kubick, Colleen Martin, and Lynn Boyd — daughters named only in the 1988 obituary — appear elsewhere in the held corpus under married or maiden names?
See also
Kin
The dated record
Sources
- Lists John B. "Bing" McCafferty (1922–1988), husband of T. Madonna McDonough and son of James A. Sr. and Elizabeth Tetzloff McCafferty. It also lists a brother, Arthur J. "Lano" McCafferty (1923–1989), same parents, and a brother Donald R. McCafferty (1934–2015), same parents — establishing the sibling group. The November 1974 Beacon supplies the full first name with the distinctive nickname.
- Names "Mr. and Mrs. Bernard McCafferty of Chicago" as parents of John Gerard McCafferty, born January 28, and identifies Mrs. McCafferty as "the former Madonna McDonough, daughter of Bert and Mary McDonough." The wife's identity matches the cemetery record's "T. Madonna McDonough" exactly, supporting that Bernard was Bing's own given or middle name (the cemetery's "John B."); no source spells out the full "John Bernard."data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1962-02_Beaver-Beacon
- The held six-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 · 1962-02_Beaver-Beacon
- Says the Bing McCafferties undertook Holy Cross Parish Cemetery maintenance after Bob McGlocklin could no longer continue; it supplies no full names, contract, schedule, or payment record. The same issue names "Bing and Madonna McCafferty" as chaperones on the school's Lansing/Detroit trip and lists Karen McCafferty among that year's graduates.data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1974-05_Beaver-Beacon
- The held eleven-page combined May–June issue scan is paired with the OCR source stored under the archive 1974-05 key 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 · 1974-05_Beaver-Beacon
- Lists John "Bing" McCafferty as a Peaine Township trustee, printed in a telephone directory listing as "McCafferty, John B."; it does not provide vote totals, term dates, or a civil biography.data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1974-11_Beaver-Beacon
- The held eight-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 · 1974-11_Beaver-Beacon
- Names Daniel McCafferty and James McCafferty as sons of "Mr. and Mrs. John (Bing) McCafferty," establishing the parent-child relation to those two records. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1975-05_Beaver-Beacon
- The held twelve-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 · 1975-05_Beaver-Beacon
- Reports the McCafferty–Wojan wedding of Karen L. McCafferty, naming her parents as "Mr. and Mrs. James B. McCafferty" and her brothers as Daniel McCafferty (ringbearer) and James McCafferty (groomsman). No "James B. McCafferty" appears in the cemetery record or any other held Beacon issue, while both brothers are independently documented as sons of John (Bing) McCafferty in 1975; the printed "James B." is treated here as a probable reporting error for "John B." The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1974-09_Beaver-Beacon
- The held twelve-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 · 1974-09_Beaver-Beacon
- Full obituary, read directly. Settles the "B." as Bernard: "John Bernard 'Bing' McCafferty." Born January 19, 1922 in Greenwich, Connecticut, to Elizabeth Tetsloff McCafferty and James Arthur McCafferty; the family moved to Beaver Island while he was a small child. Joined the U.S. Navy after high school and served in World War II. Married Madonna McDonough at Holy Cross Catholic Church on April 30, 1949. The couple moved to Chicago in 1950, where Bing worked for Jack Boyle, and raised seven children there and after their 1968 return to Beaver Island, where Bing started a construction company credited with building the parish hall, the community school, church work, the rectory, several homes, and the McCafferty Inn. Died July 28, 1988 at Little Traverse Division, Northern Michigan Hospital, Petoskey. Survived by wife Madonna; seven children — Mrs. Lawrence "Larry" (Donna) Kubick of Lansing, Illinois; James of Los Angeles; Mrs. Joseph "Buddy" (Colleen) Martin of Beaver Island; Mrs. James (Karen) Wojan of Beaver Island; John of Mt. Pleasant, Michigan; Mrs. Stacy (Lynn) Boyd of Highland, Indiana; and Daniel of Troy, Michigan — and twelve grandchildren; his mother, remarried as Mrs. Elizabeth Mooney of Beaver Island; and five brothers: Arthur "Lano" of Beaver Island, Francis of Toledo, Ohio, Donald of Chicago, and half-brothers (through the mother's remarriage) Eugene Mooney of Detroit and LaDonis Mooney of Beaver Island. Funeral Mass was Saturday, July 30, 1988 at Holy Cross Catholic Church, Father Herbert Graff officiating; burial at Holy Cross Cemetery. A separate article on the death and funeral itself exists; this article cites the same primary obituary directly rather than relying on that article's summary. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1988-08_Beaver-Beacon
- The held twenty-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 · 1988-08_Beaver-Beacon
Added 1 August 2026 · revised 4 August 2026. Recent changes
Cite this article
Beaver Island Archive, “John B. "Bing" McCafferty”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/people/john-b-bing-mccafferty/, accessed [date], citing Beaver Island Historical Society, "Holy Cross Cemetery," McCafferty section. (and 12 further sources listed on the page).
Last revised 2026-08-04. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.
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