South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL) - August 2, 1988
Deceased Name: ARTHUR BONNET, WAS BLACK CATS PILOT IN WORLD WAR II
Services are today for Arthur D. Bonnet, a World War II veteran who survived 33 night combat missions in the South Pacific with the Black Cats bomber squadron.
Mr. Bonnet, who retired nine years ago after 30 years as an Eastern Airlines pilot, died of cancer on Saturday at his Pompano Beach home. He was 69.
''He was a very adventuresome person,'' said Virginia, his wife of 43 years. ''... And he took everything in stride. He was the blue-eyed cool type.''
Mr. Bonnet earned his pilot's license while attending Brown University in Providence, R.I. He paid his way through college by playing the piano, saxophone and clarinet in clubs and bars. During the summers he worked as a lumberjack, portager or guide in Canada.
He later moved to Canada and became a flight instructor with the Royal Canadian Air Force.
When World War II broke out, Mr. Bonnet resigned from the RCAF, returned home and joined the U.S. Navy. He was sent to Corpus Christi, Texas, for training and was quickly promoted to ensign.
Mr. Bonnet applied to fly Corsairs off aircraft carriers. Instead, the Navy taught him how to fly its lumbering Catalina flying boat.
He later joined the Black Cats, which earned its name because the squadron's members fought only at night in Catalina seaplane bombers that were painted pitch black.
Mr. Bonnet, then a lieutenant, ''spent most of his time in the air piloting Catalina flying boats in search of Japanese task forces. When unable to find surface craft for targets he bombed Jap landing fields,'' according to a 1944 Chicago Tribune story.
He flew 33 combat missions, was shot down three times but lost none of his crew during his two 13-month tours in the South Pacific. Once, he flew a Navy doctor to Guadalcanal to save a native queen who was ill. He fought at Guadalcanal, at Munda, in the Kula Gulf and at Bougainville before being shipped home in 1945. After a stateside U.S. Bonds tour, he became an instructor in Pensacola.
Mr. Bonnet went into real estate in Glenview, Ill., after his discharge. Four years later he joined Eastern, working first out of O'Hare Airport in Chicago, then Kennedy International Airport in New York. In 1957, he was transferred to Miami and moved his family to Pompano Beach.
After the move, Mr. Bonnet and his wife began spending winters in Pompano Beach and summers in the mountains at Cashiers, N.C. There, Virginia Bonnet, an artist, drew up plans for homes and her husband began building them. He also took up skiing at age 60.
''He was the perfect husband. If I could clone him, I would,'' said Virginia Bonnet.
Services are at 7:30 p.m. today at the Kraeer Funeral Home in Pompano Beach.
Deceased Name: ARTHUR BONNET, WAS BLACK CATS PILOT IN WORLD WAR II
Services are today for Arthur D. Bonnet, a World War II veteran who survived 33 night combat missions in the South Pacific with the Black Cats bomber squadron.
Mr. Bonnet, who retired nine years ago after 30 years as an Eastern Airlines pilot, died of cancer on Saturday at his Pompano Beach home. He was 69.
''He was a very adventuresome person,'' said Virginia, his wife of 43 years. ''... And he took everything in stride. He was the blue-eyed cool type.''
Mr. Bonnet earned his pilot's license while attending Brown University in Providence, R.I. He paid his way through college by playing the piano, saxophone and clarinet in clubs and bars. During the summers he worked as a lumberjack, portager or guide in Canada.
He later moved to Canada and became a flight instructor with the Royal Canadian Air Force.
When World War II broke out, Mr. Bonnet resigned from the RCAF, returned home and joined the U.S. Navy. He was sent to Corpus Christi, Texas, for training and was quickly promoted to ensign.
Mr. Bonnet applied to fly Corsairs off aircraft carriers. Instead, the Navy taught him how to fly its lumbering Catalina flying boat.
He later joined the Black Cats, which earned its name because the squadron's members fought only at night in Catalina seaplane bombers that were painted pitch black.
Mr. Bonnet, then a lieutenant, ''spent most of his time in the air piloting Catalina flying boats in search of Japanese task forces. When unable to find surface craft for targets he bombed Jap landing fields,'' according to a 1944 Chicago Tribune story.
He flew 33 combat missions, was shot down three times but lost none of his crew during his two 13-month tours in the South Pacific. Once, he flew a Navy doctor to Guadalcanal to save a native queen who was ill. He fought at Guadalcanal, at Munda, in the Kula Gulf and at Bougainville before being shipped home in 1945. After a stateside U.S. Bonds tour, he became an instructor in Pensacola.
Mr. Bonnet went into real estate in Glenview, Ill., after his discharge. Four years later he joined Eastern, working first out of O'Hare Airport in Chicago, then Kennedy International Airport in New York. In 1957, he was transferred to Miami and moved his family to Pompano Beach.
After the move, Mr. Bonnet and his wife began spending winters in Pompano Beach and summers in the mountains at Cashiers, N.C. There, Virginia Bonnet, an artist, drew up plans for homes and her husband began building them. He also took up skiing at age 60.
''He was the perfect husband. If I could clone him, I would,'' said Virginia Bonnet.
Services are at 7:30 p.m. today at the Kraeer Funeral Home in Pompano Beach.
South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL) - August 2, 1988
Deceased Name: ARTHUR BONNET, WAS BLACK CATS PILOT IN WORLD WAR II
Services are today for Arthur D. Bonnet, a World War II veteran who survived 33 night combat missions in the South Pacific with the Black Cats bomber squadron.
Mr. Bonnet, who retired nine years ago after 30 years as an Eastern Airlines pilot, died of cancer on Saturday at his Pompano Beach home. He was 69.
''He was a very adventuresome person,'' said Virginia, his wife of 43 years. ''... And he took everything in stride. He was the blue-eyed cool type.''
Mr. Bonnet earned his pilot's license while attending Brown University in Providence, R.I. He paid his way through college by playing the piano, saxophone and clarinet in clubs and bars. During the summers he worked as a lumberjack, portager or guide in Canada.
He later moved to Canada and became a flight instructor with the Royal Canadian Air Force.
When World War II broke out, Mr. Bonnet resigned from the RCAF, returned home and joined the U.S. Navy. He was sent to Corpus Christi, Texas, for training and was quickly promoted to ensign.
Mr. Bonnet applied to fly Corsairs off aircraft carriers. Instead, the Navy taught him how to fly its lumbering Catalina flying boat.
He later joined the Black Cats, which earned its name because the squadron's members fought only at night in Catalina seaplane bombers that were painted pitch black.
Mr. Bonnet, then a lieutenant, ''spent most of his time in the air piloting Catalina flying boats in search of Japanese task forces. When unable to find surface craft for targets he bombed Jap landing fields,'' according to a 1944 Chicago Tribune story.
He flew 33 combat missions, was shot down three times but lost none of his crew during his two 13-month tours in the South Pacific. Once, he flew a Navy doctor to Guadalcanal to save a native queen who was ill. He fought at Guadalcanal, at Munda, in the Kula Gulf and at Bougainville before being shipped home in 1945. After a stateside U.S. Bonds tour, he became an instructor in Pensacola.
Mr. Bonnet went into real estate in Glenview, Ill., after his discharge. Four years later he joined Eastern, working first out of O'Hare Airport in Chicago, then Kennedy International Airport in New York. In 1957, he was transferred to Miami and moved his family to Pompano Beach.
After the move, Mr. Bonnet and his wife began spending winters in Pompano Beach and summers in the mountains at Cashiers, N.C. There, Virginia Bonnet, an artist, drew up plans for homes and her husband began building them. He also took up skiing at age 60.
''He was the perfect husband. If I could clone him, I would,'' said Virginia Bonnet.
Services are at 7:30 p.m. today at the Kraeer Funeral Home in Pompano Beach.
Deceased Name: ARTHUR BONNET, WAS BLACK CATS PILOT IN WORLD WAR II
Services are today for Arthur D. Bonnet, a World War II veteran who survived 33 night combat missions in the South Pacific with the Black Cats bomber squadron.
Mr. Bonnet, who retired nine years ago after 30 years as an Eastern Airlines pilot, died of cancer on Saturday at his Pompano Beach home. He was 69.
''He was a very adventuresome person,'' said Virginia, his wife of 43 years. ''... And he took everything in stride. He was the blue-eyed cool type.''
Mr. Bonnet earned his pilot's license while attending Brown University in Providence, R.I. He paid his way through college by playing the piano, saxophone and clarinet in clubs and bars. During the summers he worked as a lumberjack, portager or guide in Canada.
He later moved to Canada and became a flight instructor with the Royal Canadian Air Force.
When World War II broke out, Mr. Bonnet resigned from the RCAF, returned home and joined the U.S. Navy. He was sent to Corpus Christi, Texas, for training and was quickly promoted to ensign.
Mr. Bonnet applied to fly Corsairs off aircraft carriers. Instead, the Navy taught him how to fly its lumbering Catalina flying boat.
He later joined the Black Cats, which earned its name because the squadron's members fought only at night in Catalina seaplane bombers that were painted pitch black.
Mr. Bonnet, then a lieutenant, ''spent most of his time in the air piloting Catalina flying boats in search of Japanese task forces. When unable to find surface craft for targets he bombed Jap landing fields,'' according to a 1944 Chicago Tribune story.
He flew 33 combat missions, was shot down three times but lost none of his crew during his two 13-month tours in the South Pacific. Once, he flew a Navy doctor to Guadalcanal to save a native queen who was ill. He fought at Guadalcanal, at Munda, in the Kula Gulf and at Bougainville before being shipped home in 1945. After a stateside U.S. Bonds tour, he became an instructor in Pensacola.
Mr. Bonnet went into real estate in Glenview, Ill., after his discharge. Four years later he joined Eastern, working first out of O'Hare Airport in Chicago, then Kennedy International Airport in New York. In 1957, he was transferred to Miami and moved his family to Pompano Beach.
After the move, Mr. Bonnet and his wife began spending winters in Pompano Beach and summers in the mountains at Cashiers, N.C. There, Virginia Bonnet, an artist, drew up plans for homes and her husband began building them. He also took up skiing at age 60.
''He was the perfect husband. If I could clone him, I would,'' said Virginia Bonnet.
Services are at 7:30 p.m. today at the Kraeer Funeral Home in Pompano Beach.
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