Name: Former Detroit Tiger Norman Cash drowns in St. James Harbor, 1986
Start: 1986-10-12
End: 1986-10-12
Location: Township of Saint James

Locator map: Township of Saint James highlighted within the Beaver Island archipelago — Took place at Township of Saint JamesLocator plate © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0); depths NOAA; names USGS GNIS. How the plates are drawn.

Event

Date: 1986-10-12
Kind: Death
Where: Township of Saint James
Eras: Modern era
Concepts: deathmaritimeemergency-managementcommunitycommunication
Within: Beaver Island

Summary

On October 12, 1986, Beaver Island Fire Department divers recovered former Detroit Tiger Norman Dalton Cash from 15 feet of water in St. James Harbor after an apparent drowning.

Evidence limits

This is reprinted initial incident reporting, not a death certificate, autopsy, coroner file, vessel or dock investigation, or final accident determination.

Sources

Fran Martin and Kendall P. Stanley, “Ex-Tiger Drowns at Beaver Island,” Beaver Beacon, November 1986, reprinted from the Detroit Free Press.
Reports recovery of Norman Dalton “Stormin’ Norman” Cash’s body by Beaver Island Fire Department divers in 15 feet of St. James Harbor water on October 12, the search after he was reported missing, an apparent drowning, medical declaration, and family and island connections. It is reprinted initial incident reporting, not a death certificate, autopsy, coroner file, vessel or dock investigation, or final accident determination. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1986-11_Beaver-Beacon
Beaver Beacon, November 1986, held issue PDF, source scan.
The held twenty-page November issue PDF is paired with the canonical OCR source and confirms the drowning report.
data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1986-11_Beaver-Beacon

Added 4 August 2026. Recent changes

Cite this article

Beaver Island Archive, “Former Detroit Tiger Norman Cash drowns in St. James Harbor, 1986”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/events/beaver-island-norman-cash-drowning-1986/, accessed [date], citing Fran Martin and Kendall P. Stanley, “Ex-Tiger Drowns at Beaver Island,” Beaver Beacon, November 1986, reprinted from the Detroit Free Press. (and 1 further source listed on the page).

Last revised 2026-08-04. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.

BibTeX for “Former Detroit Tiger Norman Cash drowns in St. James Harbor, 1986”RIS for “Former Detroit Tiger Norman Cash drowns in St. James Harbor, 1986”