HERO
FATHER ROBERT BONNELL
ORDAINED APRIL 2, 1949
1924 – 2009

On March 11th of this year, Anita and I and a friend drove to Sacred Heart Church in Oberlin, Ohio for the funeral Mass of Father Robert Bonnell who died on March 5. He had been pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Oberlin for 18 years until he retired in 1994. He continued to live in an apartment near the Oberlin Inn. On Sundays he would help out in parishes in Lorain County.

Bob and I were ordained April 2, 1949. After serving at various parishes as an assistant pastor, he was named pastor of Saint Margaret Mary Church in Cleveland Heights. Later he became chaplain of the Carmelite Sisters and earned his doctorate in history at Western Reserve University. He was an associate professor of history of Saint John College of Cleveland. He was also a fellow in Middle East Studies at the American University in Cairo and Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota. He was inducted into the Western Reserve chapter of the National Historical Society. Many students at Saint John College attest that he was an outstanding teacher and scholar.

And a compassionate one too, as Anita can attest. When she and two other professors at Saint John College lost their jobs for “reasons of financial exigency,” Bob Bonnell wrote her a letter expressing his dismay and saying that he would be happy to recommend her for another position. In the last fifteen years Anita and I would have dinner with Bob three or four times a year. Usually we would dine at the Oberlin Inn but when the weather was good Bob would insist on our driving him to a yacht club in Huron or Vermillion where he had a membership. He did not own a sailboat, a motorboat, or even a rowboat. But he wanted to take us to a place where he could pick up the tab for dinner. Wherever we dined we had a great time. He was a good conversationalist and a wry and humorous observer of people, especially bishops and priests. He afforded us many laughs.

For example, before driving in from Oberlin to see an Indians game at Jacob’s Field, Bob would call Bishop Pilla’s office to ask him if he could use his parking place at Jacob’s Field.

When he retired, Bob had an exit interview with Pilla. The bishop went through a list of things Bob could or could not do in retirement. When Bob got home, he wrote a letter to Pilla telling him that the exit interview lacked something, namely, a word of thanks for the fifty years of service he had given to the diocese. Shortly after, Bob received a small printed thank you note signed by Pilla. Bob then sent it to someone he knew who opened it and wondered “Why is Pilla sending me a thank you note?”

In his homily at the funeral Mass, attended by all the bishops, Bill Padavick, the pastor of Sacred Heart Parish, told two stories about Bob Bonnell that showed the humanity of the man. One was the time that on a cold icy day, Bonnell drove out of his garage into the ice-covered parking lot. When he came to the street Bob hit the brakes, but the car slid across the highway and stopped only after demolishing the steps of the home on the other side of the street. The police came and could easily see that this was truly an accident caused by miserable weather conditions. They wanted to drive Bob back to his rectory but Bob insisted that they issue him a ticket. “Cite me!” Bob said. “Give me a ticket just as you would with any other citizen.”

The other story Padavick told was about the first time he came to Oberlin as the new pastor. Walking down the main street wearing his clerical garb, he was stopped by a man who identified himself as a professor at Oberlin College. “Who are you?” the man asked.

“I’m Father Bill Padavick. I am replacing Bob Bonnell.”

The college professor said, “No one can replace Bonnell.”

Truer words were never spoken.

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