Denny Doherty, one of the singers of the Mamas & the Papas, died in Mississauga in 2007. I attended his funerary wake at the Skinner & Middlebrook Funeral Home in Port Credit and had the opportunity to offer my condolences to his children and to Michelle Phillips. She and I had both arrived there early–Michelle no doubt had arranged to have a private moment alone with Denny and the family–while I was there early, before the scheduled time of the wake, as I was anticipating a crowd. I shared a few moments with Michelle inside the funeral home and told her how much her and Denny’s music meant to me. This was in January and I recall Michelle was wearing a knit hat with a prominent pompom.
When I had first arrived, I was busy locking my bike outside when a cab pulled up. I recognized immediately who exited the vehicle: Leah Kunkel and Owen Elliot, sister and daughter of Cass Elliot. Leah looked just like Cass. I was able to talk to Owen, as well as Denny’s children, inside. I spent most of my time talking to first daughter Jessica.
Denny’s gravesite had just been reseeded so there was no grass in front of the tombstone. You can see just a fringe of grass but the ground in front was dirt, as seen by my left foot.
4 Responses
Hi..
I was always curious… did Denny have an open-casket wake?
The casket was closed.
Why was his wife buried in New York and he in Canada? You would think that they would want to be buried together
I presumed that Jeanette shares the same plot as Denny, but as she predeceased him she may have her own headstone or has been laid to rest elsewhere. I do not know where his first wife Linda has been laid to rest.