Orrill Pettingill Coolidge
Feb. 8, 1881-Feb. 18, 1957
Niles Daily Star (Niles, Berrien Co., MI), Wednesday, February 18, 1957, page 2, col. 4, microfilm Niles District Library
First Niles Librarian Dies
Miss Orrill Pettingill Coolidge, the first librarian of the Niles Carnegie Public Library which was opened in 1094, died at 3:30 a.m. Sunday at Pawating Hospital after on illness of six days. She was 76.
Miss Coolidge, who resided at 10 Grand Avenue, was the last member of a pioneer family which came west from Massachusetts in the 1830's, settled in Edwardsburg and later moved to Niles. She was active in the First Presbyterian Church and several women's and historical societies.
Friends may call at the Kiger-Halbritter Funeral Home. Services will be conducted at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the First Presbyterian Church by the Rev. John MacLachlan, church pastor. Burial will be at Silverbrook Cemetery.
Miss Coolidge was born in Niles, Feb. 8, 1881. Her father was Judge Orville W. Coolidge, who was presiding judge of Berrien County Circuit Court many years. Her grandfather, Henry Coolidge, also served had served [as] county circuit court judge.
Miss Coolidge was graduated from Niles High School. She attended the University of California and was graduated from the University of Illinois Library School in 1904. Upon graduation she was named first librarian a the newly opened Carnegie Public Library in Niles and served in that position until she retired in 1939. She was a member of the First Presbyterian Church, the Niles Club of Home Gardens, the Ladies Historical Society and the Fort St. Joseph Historical Association.
A sister, Miss Florence Claudine Coolidge, died in August, 1956. A brother, Clarence A. Coolidge who was in attorney in Chicago, died in June, 1946. Several cousins, member of the Chapin family, reside in Massachusetts, California and the Midwest.