William ''Bill'' Boniface

WILLIAM “BILL” BONIFACE , age 89, of Churchville, retired racing editor of The Evening Sun, died of a liver disease at Good Samaritan Hospital on September 1, 2005. Born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, he was the son of the late Fritz and Louisa Judd Boniface. Fritz Boniface was an English born horseman who founded the Harford County Horse Breeders Association as manager of Bel Air’s Prospect Hill Farm.

A graduate of Bel Air High School, Mr. Boniface attended New York University at night and took a job with Horse & Horseman magazine, and then returned to Maryland and joined the staff of The Maryland Horse magazine. In 1937, he joined the staff of The Evening Sun and covered racing until his retirement in 1982. At the age of 22, he covered the match race of War Admiral and Seabiscuit.

During WW II, Mr. Boniface enlisted in the Marine Corps and became a combat correspondent in the South Pacific. After the war he returned to newspaper reporting.

In 1963, Mr. Boniface bought a 40-acre horse farm in Harford County which he named Bonita after a fish known for its speed. His greatest racing success, with a Preakness win, was a horse named Deputed Testamony, breeding Bonita Farm’s stallion Traffic Cop with Boston partner Francis Sears’ mare Proof Requested. The family moved the Bonita Farm to a 400-acre spread in Darlington in 1985. The farm is now owned by his son, three grandsons, two great-grandsons and their wives.

In 1971 Mr. Boniface accompanied John D. Shapiro, owner of Laurel Race Course, to France to invite thoroughbreds to race in the Washington International, a fall race held at Laurel. This venture startled the western world with the news that two Soviet horses would be flying over for the international race.

In retirement, after a 43 year career, Mr. Boniface wrote a novel, Studs, in 1999. He was a founding member of the Maryland Racing Riders Association.

Mr. Boniface is survived by his wife of 66 years, Mary Louise Anderson Boniface; one son, J. William Boniface and his wife, Joan, of Darlington; one daughter, Ann Marie Bengel and
her husband, Charles, of Towson; one brother, Harry Boniface of Frederick; two sisters, Freda Moser of Tempe, Arizona and Helen Larrimore of Mesa, Arizona; seven grandchildren, William Kennard Boniface, Kevin Charles Boniface, J. William Boniface, Jr., Kim Michelle Boniface, all of Darlington, Katherine Bonita Frankel of New York, New York, Christopher Gordon Bengel of Perry Hall, and Stephanie J. Kousouris of Parkton; and nine great-grandchildren.

Pallbearers were: William K. Boniface, John William Boniface, Jr., Kevin Charles Boniface, Fritz Boniface, William Richard Boniface, and Christopher Gordon Bengel.

Those who desire may contribute to Maryland Horseman’s Assistance Fund, 6314 Windsor Mill Road, Baltimore, MD 21207.