E.H. Bonnabeau
E.H. Bonnabeau of Montauk, an Army veteran who worked for the American Tobacco Company for 34 years and later was the golf starter at the Montauk Downs golf course for 14 years, died on Saturday at the Hamptons Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing in Southampton. He was 87 and had pneumonia.
Mr. Bonnabeau, who was known as Gene, was born in Brooklyn on Aug. 27, 1928, to Eugene L. Bonnabeau and the former Dorothy Newman. He attended St. Sylvester School in Brooklyn and John Adams High School in Queens, and enlisted in the Army when he turned 18, serving as a fire control instrument operator from August of 1946 to 1947 during the United States occupation of Japan following World War II.
Mr. Bonnabeau was known as a great athlete in track and baseball. His family said his father had been a scout for the New York Giants baseball team, which inspired his love of baseball. Mr. Bonnabeau pitched for the Army during his military service, going undefeated in 13 games, and later continued to play in local leagues into his 40s.
In 1948, Mr. Bonnabeau married Josephine McCullough, with whom he had five children.
Mr. Bonnabeau took college night classes in New York City for two years while working at the Richmond Hill Savings Bank. He later took a job with the American Tobacco Company as a sales representative on Long Island. Eventually, he worked his way up to the rank of sales manager, with a territory that included all of New York State and West Virginia and half of Pennsylvania. He retired in 1988 after 34 years with the company.
Josephine Bonnabeau died in 1983.
In 1984, Mr. Bonnabeau married Patricia Wade-Haughney, and in 1996, the couple moved to Montauk from their previous home in Middle Island. Mr. Bonnabeau began working at Montauk Downs, where his duties included managing tee times and maintaining the course schedule. He would serve in that role for 14 years. He was also a member of the American Legion in Amagansett and participated in many activities at St. Therese of Lisieux Catholic Church in Montauk. He enjoyed fishing and reading, loved history, and coached his two godsons in baseball leagues.
“He was a true gentleman, sweet and considerate of other people, just a good man,” Mrs. Bonnabeau recalled.
Mr. Bonnabeau is survived by his second wife and his children, Eugene Bonnabeau of New Windsor, Conn., Dorothy Tanneberger of Danbury, Conn., Susan Scotti of Tupper Lake, N.Y., Blake Bonnabeau of Bethel, Conn., and Elizabeth Bonnabeau-Harding of New Milford, Conn. He also leaves three brothers, Herbert Bonnabeau of Wilson, N.C., Jerome Bonnabeau of Albany, and Richard Bonnabeau of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., 16 grandchildren, and 8 great-grandchildren.
Visiting hours will be tomorrow from 2 to 9 p.m. at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton. A Mass of Christian burial will take place on Saturday at 11 a.m. at St. Therese of Lisieux in Montauk. He will be buried in the spring at St. Alphonsus Cemetery in Tupper Lake.
Memorial donations have been suggested to the Montauk Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary or the Montauk Fire Department Volunteer Ambulance Corps, at 12 Flamingo Avenue, Montauk 11954, or St. Therese of Lisieux Catholic Church, P.O. Box 5027 in Montauk.