MILWAUKEE, Wis. — Patrons of Milwaukee's iconic Wolski's Tavern gathered Sunday afternoon not for football or drinks, but to celebrate the life of its former owner.
Mike Bondar, the beloved bar owner who transformed the humble Lower East Side dive bar into a world-famous community hub, recently passed away. Friends and family gathered inside the bar Sunday to honor his memory.
Bondar, who ran Wolski's for decades, died after struggling with dementia. His nephew Sean McCarthy, a bartender and future owner of the establishment, organized the celebration of life to honor his uncle's legacy and raise funds for dementia research.
"There's communities formed from all sorts of things. Our kids go to school together, or we go to church together. The bar is like that for our neighborhood," McCarthy said. "[Mike] was asking you about your day, not you want a drink and then moving on."
The tavern holds a special place in the hearts of many Milwaukeeans, largely due to Bondar's personal touch with customers. The humble bar gained worldwide notoriety over the decades for giving out "I Closed Wolski's" stickers to customers who stayed until the bar closed each night.
Watch here: Why community members gathered to celebrate Mike Bondar, late owner of Wolski's
Customer John Zolinski from Cedarburg experienced the bar's compassion firsthand when his daughter, also a Wolski's regular, passed away last year and the bar offered to hold her celebration of life.
"[There is a] small Northern Michigan University pennant right over where she and her roommate always sat," Zolinski said. "[Mike] cared about the bar. He cared about the neighborhood. He cared about the people."
Attendees honored Bondar's memory by sharing his favorite shot, 'Stoli-O' or Stolichnaya Orange Vodka, with $1 from each shot donated to dementia research.
"My uncle was struggling with Lewy body dementia for a long time, so this is a nice opportunity to raise some funds to donate to that," McCarthy said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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