Resident bagpiper dies at 58

Jason Bond, the bagpiper and Costa Mesa resident whose illness rallied several communities around him over the last few months, died of cancer Sept. 1 at the age of 58.

Bond, an Australian immigrant who had lived in the United States since 1982, died of esophageal cancer at Coastal Communities Hospital in Santa Ana. Over the last two decades, he had won renown as a musician and through his constant appearances at military ceremonies and funerals, an honorer of fallen veterans.

During the final months of Bond's life, members of the local military and music communities had come to his aid, providing him with basic needs and helping him reapply for American citizenship. Two weeks before his death, Bond received a more unusual honor — Rep. Dana Rohrabacher's office awarded him with a Certificate of Congressional Recognition.

"He was a poet, a musician, a writer," said Madrigal Alexander, a military liaison to the city of Santa Ana who often played the flute alongside Bond at funerals. "We were just kindred spirits. We had the same aura. I may be 20 years younger than him, but he was someone I really came to love."

On Tuesday, the Santa Ana City Council adjourned its regular meeting in honor of Bond, with Councilman Jose Solorio making brief remarks.

A resident of Costa Mesa during the last few years of his life, Bond was a regular presence at military funerals and events, playing the bagpipes every Memorial Day at Westminster Memorial Park. On his website, he billed himself as "The Bagpiper of Orange." Although staunchly loyal to his adopted country, Bond also preserved the music of British cultures, playing in the San Clemente Scots Pipe Band and founding his own Celtic ensemble.

It was a fellow musician, in fact, who contacted Rohrabacher's office about getting Bond a certificate. Stuart Martz, a former member of the band the Fenians, had invited Bond to play at his wedding in June. As it turned out, the bagpiper was too ill to make the date, but he and Martz grew acquainted by talking on the phone.

"I played a benefit for him back in May, and over the course of getting to know Jason, it was really clear that he had quite a group of almost family here," Martz said.

The congressman's office issued the certificate in mid-August, along with a small American flag.

Bond is survived by an adult daughter. Jana Murphy, a former bandmate with Bond and his healthcare advocate, said a service is planned for him on Sept. 16, although the location has not been set.

"People knew him everywhere he went," Murphy said. "You just couldn't keep him down. He was pretty irrepressible."