Nick Boneff

1951 - 2022

Nick Boneff
August 29, 1951 - September 5, 2022
Birmingham, Michigan - Nick Boneff of Birmingham, MI passed away on September 5, 2022, after a long illness.
Nick was born on August 29, 1951 in Kansas City, Missouri to Slavi and Zonka Boneff, Bulgarians who had recently come to the United States by way of Austria after being displaced during World War II. As a young child, Nick was a voracious reader and precocious learner, and his preternatural intellect was twice highlighted in articles in the Kansas City Star. Nick spent much of his time as a young boy at the public library, where he forged a relationship with a librarian who spotted his potential and arranged for admissions testing at a private preparatory school, the Pembroke Country Day School.
Nick graduated from "Pem Day" in 1968 as the salutatorian and a National Merit Scholar. He delivered a salutatory address on June 6, 1968, in which he encouraged his graduating class to honor the memory of Robert F. Kennedy by standing up for their beliefs and being active in solving the problems of others.
Nick enrolled at Harvard College in the fall of 1968 and was an active participant in the spirit of the time, including protests in Harvard Yard, explorations of expanded consciousness, and participation in communal living. This Hippie lifestyle was at times in conflict with his upbringing. When Nick's Bulgarian grandmother was visiting in Kansas City, Nick came home from Harvard. He and his parents agreed that he would wear a short hair wig during the visit and he did. He graduated from Harvard in 1973 with a degree in English literature and proceeded to the University of Nevada-Reno, from which he earned his doctorate in clinical psychology.
Following graduate school, Nick undertook a postdoctoral fellowship in Michigan and eventually settled in the suburbs of Detroit. He began his career at Providence Hospital, where he met his first wife, Patricia Gibbs, with whom he had two children. Nick spent his career practicing psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy in private practice, as well as conducting psychological testing.
Throughout his life, Nick was an understated, good-spirited, humorous, kind, and brilliant man who treasured a small number of close friendships and the relationships he had with his family. He was a great fan of television game shows, and he competed on ABC's "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" in 2000 during the show's original run. He was also a fan of horse racing, a card shark, and an avid follower of Kansas City and Detroit sports teams.
Nick is survived by his second wife, Shelley Anne Boneff of Windsor, ON; his children Erik Boneff (and wife Rose Putler) of Boston, MA, and Kira Boneff-Peng (and husband Richard) of Ann Arbor, MI; his sisters Vee Garrison (and husband Bob) of Leawood, KS and Rosie Eastwood (and husband Wes) of Overland Park, KS; and several nieces, nephews, grandnieces, and grandnephews.
A virtual celebration of life will be held for Nick at a date and in a manner to be determined. For additional information about this event, please call 248-703-4883.
The family is asking that any charitable contributions in his memory be made to the Pembroke Hill School in Kansas City or to VNA of Southeast Michigan, which provided hospice care to Nick. The family is deeply grateful to VNA for their thoughtful care and companionship in Nick's final weeks.