Clifton Rhea Bonham, age 70, has passed away after a lengthy battle against cancer. He was moved into a Hospice Care facility shortly before his death, passing peacefully there in the early morning of March 28, 2019.

He was born on February 14, 1949 to parents Everette R. Bonham and Ella Mae Hyden in Jonesville, Virginia. The family lived there until Clifton was 10, when they all moved to Dayton, Ohio, following his Dad’s job with GM.

On his own in the mid 1960s, Clifton lived for a time in Aspen, Colorado, where he became a good friend to John Denver’s bodyguard (although he didn’t care much for Denver). Moving back to Dayton, he married his first wife, Sue, and adopted her daughter, Traci. A second marriage to wife Gale produced son Clayton and daughter Heather.

In the late 1980s he was single again, but not alone, when he moved west with his children Clayton and Heather, first to Oregon and finally to Humboldt County.

His children eventually moved back to Dayton, and Clifton stayed here on his own.

For the past 20 years, he has been living a quiet, private life in an apartment near Old Town, Eureka, surrounded by his cherished collections of antique guns, knives, crystals, coins, his guitar and whatever else interested him. He would venture out of his apartment to go to the library and to gather with friends and talk, laugh, and listen to their music.

He liked his computer, music, books, and cars, and was a motorcycle rider in his younger days. His CB handle was “Boogeyman.”

Clifton was predeceased by his parents, Everette and Ella, and his brother, Wayne Bonham. He is survived by his sisters Jodi Jackson and Barb Sebastian, and by his daughter Heather Bonham (Dayton, Ohio), son Clayton Bonham (Dayton, Ohio), and daughter Traci Langley (Lakeland, Florida).

Thanks go out to Hospice of Humboldt for their assistance and end of life care. Special thanks to Monty Hewitt who was Clifton’s main caregiver while he was still at home.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Clifton Bonham’s family. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here.