Daniel's Final Journey....Rally IV.

[ChipBeck]

Note: The first part of this post is from an earlier thread only viewable by Lifetime Members. The 2nd part I wrote this morning and it's viewable by all members now in the Rally IV thread. The posts are long but for those members who could not attend either event, the photos and words below can take you there, if you wish, vicariously.
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Gentlemen,

During Rally III in Las Vegas I met Lorna Bonyhadi for the first time after hearing about her from Daniel for several years. A delightful lady. We had a nice conversation in Las Vegas and unfortunately the next time I saw her was at Daniel’s funeral service in Fresno some months later. Two GT Forum members spoke at Daniel’s service, Syco (Randy) and myself. Many of us have stayed in touch with Lorna and a couple months ago she told me she would like to have Daniel’s ashes scattered at our next National Rally. I spoke with DBK about her wishes and we both felt honored to have been asked to carry out her request to take our good friend Daniel to his final GT Rally. I told Lorna that I would fly to Fresno and take her out to dinner on the day we picked Daniel up.

On Wednesday, September 30, I flew my Cirrus to Fresno, accompanied by my fiancé Veronica, Karen (Mrs. GT Pilot), and MJ (Piccola) to pick up the remains of Daniel Bonyhadi. Jake and his lovely wife Sam (Project 321) picked us up at the airport. At 7 p.m. that evening, a group of GT Forum members took Lorna out to dinner at Daniel’s favorite restaurant, the Elbow Room. Lorna has told me on more than one occasion that she always enjoys getting together with Daniel's "Ford GT friends". She thinks we're more fun than his Rotary friends.

Everything went real well that night. Before dinner we went to Marv Rose's dealership to see Daniel's GT.

The Elbow Room was Lorna's favorite restaurant as well as Daniel's and she had not been back there since Daniel's death. We all wanted it to be a happy occasion and a night of joy for both her, and all of Daniel's friends. I believe we accomplished that. Lorna was so happy to see everybody and the entire staff at the restaurant, especially Daniel's favorite waitress Annie, was thrilled to see her return. Lorna brought Daniel to the restaurant. She was unhappy with the plastic box that contained Daniels remains so she relocated him into a Rolex wristwatch box, sealed that inside of a Gucci leather bag, and then placed that bag inside of a larger bright red Lancome canvas bag. She told me, "I think Daniel likes that much better." She brought one of her girlfriends to the restaurant and there was no room in the back seat so when she handed Daniels remains to her friend she remarked, "You're going to have to put Daniel between your legs", then she realized what she had just said, and they both had a good laugh. I'm sure it put a smile on Daniel's face when he heard that remark.

Others attending that night were Vipernathan (Marv Rose and his wife), AwsumGT ( Jerry and Paula), Project321 (Jake and Samantha), and Ralphie (who drove all the way from San Diego to attend). We consumed more than our share of Maker's Mark Manhattan's, told a lot of stories, and ate some wonderful food. At the end of the evening we said our goodbyes, and Lorna turned Daniel over to me. That was kind of emotional. Everybody held him for a moment. There were three Ford GTs in attendance in addition to Jake's stunning brand new 2010 GT500. The sound of the departing Ford GTs lit up the night at the end of the evening.

We took off early the next morning and were back in Scottsdale by 11 a.m. Daniel resided here in Scottsdale, next to my computer and a bottle of Maker’s Mark, until we left for Austin after the Scottsdale Rally to the Rally.

Chip

 

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[ChipBeck]

Scottsdale, Fort Stockton, Austin.

Gentlemen,

During the Scottsdale Rally to the Rally, Daniel traveled to all functions in my GT and was present at every dinner where a special Maker’s Mark Manhattan, made to his 3-1 specification, was prepared and placed next to him. Every night, a special toast was made.

I trailered my car from Scottsdale to Austin and on that journey Daniel rode in the drivers seat of the GT.

Although Daniel wasn’t big on participating in track events, he rode in my GT during all of my laps at Texas International Speedway and during all of my passes at the Texas Mile. As is appropriate, Daniel’s final day at Rally IV, was spent with Dave and Francesca. He was riding with Dave during our encounter with law enforcement and was probably responsible for the good nature displayed by the Sheriffs Officer who seemed to know instinctively that an 11-99 Foundation Member was present. At the end of the road rally, Francesca carried Daniel back to their hotel room, clutched tightly to her chest.

In Austin, the red canvas and leather bag containing Daniels remains was present at every evening function (always next to his Maker’s Mark Manhattan), and this allowed many of our members to visit him, extend their hand to him a final time or pay their respects in their own way, and to say goodbye.

On the final night, Dave, Francesca, and I led a procession of about 140 Rally participants down to a beautiful spot on the lake behind the hotel where a small wooden platform extended out above the water. It was the last light of the day and once everyone was assembled, I said I would make a few remarks inside just before dinner. I started to hand the box to DBK so that he could scatter Daniel’s ashes. He looked at me and shook his head no. So I started fumbling with the box which I could barely see through the tears in my eyes. I finally got it open, and as I held Daniel in my hands for the last time, I looked over at Dave, and I completely lost my composure. Dave wasn’t doing much better. “Here this evening, the last physical presence of Daniel Bonyhadi will leave us, to remain here forever, at the site of Rally IV. But in a larger sense he’ll always be with us. Every time I log on to the forum, I hear his voice, I see his face, and I feel his presence.” And at that I turned toward the water and hurled Daniel’s ashes out over the lake. I turned back toward Dave….and we were both completely destroyed. He put his arms around me and said, “What a couple of wimps we are”. I requested everybody return to the ballroom. Dave and Francesca remained down by the lake for some time.

Back inside, at the very start of dinner, DBK had a Makers Mark Manhattan delivered to everybody in the ballroom, whether they wanted one or not, for one special final to toast to our Moderator Emeritus. Dave asked me to do the toast which I have re-created as best I remember it below. Following that toast, the country western singer entertaining us that night, sang a stunningly beautiful version of “God Bless the USA” in honor of Daniel.

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“Tonight we honor Bony with a final toast. As most of the attendees here tonight were not at Daniel’s services I will paraphrase a few remarks I made during his eulogy. There were 300 to 400 people at Daniels funeral service. Rotary members, uniformed police officers, firefighters who had a hook and ladder truck parked outside, community leaders, friends, and family. You already know what kind of a man Daniel was so I’ll not speak about that. But I will tell you a couple things about him that you probably don’t know. Dan was a very big part of our lives, but as active as he was in our community, we were just a very small part of his incredibly big life. Daniel was involved in every civic organization you can imagine and spent an incredible amount of his time and energy with the Fresno Rotary. Several of his fellow Rotary members spoke at his service and talked about all of the projects they had taken on....trying to wipe out preventable diseases in Somalia and Tanzania, providing shelter for abused children in the United States, medical services for the indigent, and hunger relief programs. When it was my turn to speak at his funeral I told the attendees, “After listening to all of these fantastic good works mentioned by Dan’s fellow Rotary members, I feel compelled to tell all of you, that at the Ford GT Forum"........"We don’t do anything for anybody”. While Fresno Rotary members busied themselves trying to wipe out polio on the African subcontinent, GT Forum members were putting all of our time and energy into weighty matters like…..getting our inner door trim rings made out of carbon fiber. I suppose we represented the hedonistic side of Daniel Bonyhadi’s life.

You didn’t have to talk to Daniel very long about all of the projects he was involved with, in addition to his business, and the GT Forum, before you come away shaking your head and thinking of your own life as a complete failure. He had to have been a hyperactive child, a genetic fluke, to have had that much energy. Yet, when speaking to anyone of us, he made sure we knew that we mattered to him.

I’ve never been accorded a greater honor than to have been asked by Daniels lovely wife Lorna to take Dan to his final Rally where his ashes were scattered tonight. But although Lorna told me what she wanted done, she did not tell me how, or precisely where, she wanted it done. So DBK and I discussed it. Where do we scatter the ashes? What would be the best final resting place for our friend Daniel? Perhaps at Texas International Speedway where so many famous people have raced......Perhaps at the Texas Mile where we could all line the runway to watch......Perhaps during the Road Rally as this is the type of driving that Daniel enjoyed in his GT.....or…...Back at the hotel. The hotel is the spot, after all, where Daniel had the most fun during the last three Rallies. These are all fine places, in life, and in death.

But upon reflection, I believe there is one best final resting place for Daniel Bonyhadi. Because in this place, across any span of time or distance, Daniel can return to us, with an answer, some historical perspective, or a humorous caustic comment that makes us smile. The one best final resting place for our dear friend Daniel, is in the hearts of his good friends assembled here tonight, and that is where we lay him to rest.

God bless you Daniel.
We love you brother.
And God Bless America.

Chip

 

[Piccola]

Chip, thank you for everything you did to make Daniel a special part of Rally IV, and for speaking from your heart on Friday night. The ceremony by the river was somehow much more difficult for me than the memorial service was. It looked like it hit others pretty hard as well. He touched so many lives, and there were few dry eyes on the way back to the hotel. There is a good reason Lorna entrusted you with Daniel and I don't think you could have chosen a better place to say the final farewell to our dear friend. He will always be with us on this forum and in our hearts.

God bless,
MJ

 

[Nardo GT]

Thank you Chip.

 

[BigsGT]

Wow...

What a unbelieveably touching eulogy Chip. I don't deal well with death and frankly had not come to terms with Daniel's until this post. The last picture of him will be printed out and hung with my other cherished GT memorabilia.

I was only able to spend time with Bony in Detroit and Indy since I missed Rally II and III, and it was even a few days after his death that I was made aware as I wasn't logging on much for a while there. Now it's setting in and I'm kicking myself for missing that tribute to him at the lake.

God Bless you, Dave and all his forum friends for giving him such an appropriate send off. Thanks to your post I can assure you he will remain in my heart and spirit as well.

Thanks again Chip.

And God Bless Daniel Bonyhadi.

Bigs AKA Don Bennett

 

[steved57]

Although I never had the pleasure of meeting Daniel in person Chip your send off was the best as you did an incredible job, hats off to you !!

Steve

 

[shelbyelite]

Not much left to say Chip..... You did a much better job than I could ever do given a circumstance such as this one. My hats off to you for stepping up and doing a PERFECT JOB! Im sure you have made Bony very proud. :usa

 

[red gt 1442]

Thank you Chip...............

We truly appreciated all of your efforts in this regard. Bony was a friend to all......

With much sadness...........


Gino

 

[Midnite Blu]

My friend Bony.......

A friend forever........GO into the BLU..

 

[PL510*Jeff]

Dear Chip,

A heartfelt Thank You for the Final Send off for our Dear Friend
Dan Bonyhadi. The words you chose were a fitting tribute to one fine Gentleman and a kind human being. Damn I miss him.

Most Sincerely,
Jeff

 

[FlorIdaho Chris]

Thanks brother Chip, for the wonderful tribute.

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[Kip Ewing]

Thanks so much, Chip

Chip

I really want to thank you publicly, for how you memorialized Bony for us all.

It was so important that you let everyone know just how fortunate this group was to be entrusted with such a significant recognition of the man.
As you stated so eloquently, the Ford GT crowd was a relatively new-comer in his life (yet a very important one!).

For Lorna to entrust you with these final moments is a testament to what our group meant to him. You really did the moment justice.

While Bony was a obviously a great client, and a massive supporter of mine, he quickly became a loyal friend. One of the more difficult things in dealing with his parting were the numerous un-opened emails that were in my inbox.
It took quite a while to be willing to open those. I can only imagine how much more trying this has been to his friends who knew him so much longer and better.

I arrived at the final memorial late, just as you were spreading his ashes.
I am just glad that I caught that last moment. However; as you said, he will always be with us!

I vote for a framed photo of Bony to be present at the table for future Rallies and a Makers Mark for all (that was a great touch!).

As so many have noted about the Rallies, the friendships are becoming more important than the cars which have been the catalyst for these relationships.
Bony is a great example of how important this is.
I do miss him.

Thanks again, Chip.

 

[THamonGT]

Thank You Chip For A Very First Class Tribute To Daniel On Town Lake At Rally IV. We All Know How Difficult That Was For You And Dave. Daniel Will Always Be With Us In Our Hearts And Mind. A True Gentleman Who Loved His Family, Friends And His Country. God Bless Him Forever. Tomy Hamon

 

[RedGT]

Chip,

I believe Daniel was smiling as you were speaking. I'm sure he was touched, just as we all were.

Bill

 

[fjpikul]

Thank you Chip for taking good care of our good friend and comrade. I also did not think I would be so emotional. Frank