Donald “Donnie” Dillman, 56, a Chicago electrician whose booming laugh greeted legions of Cubs fans at his bar, Bernie’s Tavern, across from Wrigley Field, died Monday, Feb. 18, of complications related to liver disease in Northwestern Memorial Hospital. As a boy, Mr. Dillman spent afternoons outside the ballpark, hoping to catch a ball hit out of the park. The day he caught a ball hit by Ernie Banks, “you would have thought he got a million dollars instead of a baseball hit out of the park,” said his wife and business partner, Linda, whom he met at age 11 and married in 1968. The couple bought the tavern from Mr. Dillman’s father, Bernie, in 1981. Mr. Dillman spent evenings and weekends at the tavern after working as an electrician for the City of Chicago. At Bernie’s, “he was the socialite of the place,” said his wife. To commemorate baseball broadcaster Harry Caray’s death in 1998, Mr. Dillman sold T-shirts with the tavern’s name printed backward to honor Caray who would at times try to pronounce the backwards version of players’ names. Mr. Dillman then donated the $5,000 in T-shirt sales to Maryville Academy in Des Plaines, a residential facility for children, his wife said. Mr. Dillman’s customers knew him for his trademark saying, “Who loves ya? You’re the best.” In addition to his wife and father, Mr. Dillman is survived by two sons, Jeff and Tim; and two brothers, Richard and Bernie Jr. Mass will be said at 10 a.m. Friday in St. Hilary Catholic Church, 5600 N. Fairfield Ave., Chicago.
