Steigely, R. W.
1894-June 19, 1950

Niles Daily Star, Tuesday, June 20, 1950; page 2, column 5, microfilm, Niles District Library

Raymond W. Steigely, of Oak street, died Monday at 1 a.m. at Memorial hospital South Bend. He had been ill since Saturday.

Surviving are his widow, Lillian; their daughters, Katherine of Ann Arbor, and Patricia Jo, at home; a brother, Harold Steigely, of Niles, and a sister Mrs. A. H. Leonard, of San Diego, Cal.

He was a manager of the Niles Locker plant.

Friends may call at the Pifer funeral home, where services will be conducted at 2 p.m. Thursday by the Rev. Theo Laesch, pastor of St. Paul’s Lutheran church. Burial will be in Silverbrook cemetery. Steigely was a veteran of World War I.

Ira Brand
April 9, 1866-June 24, 1950

Niles Daily Star, Monday, June 26, 1950; page 2, column 5, microfilm, Niles District Library

Services for Ira Brand, 209 Pokagon street, who died at 10:30 p.m. Saturday in the Berrien Center hospital, will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Pifer funeral home.

Brand, who had been in poor health for some time, leaves his wife, Jennie, stepchildren, Gordon and Clayton Algee, of Niles, and Mrs. Marjorie Stigner, of Kalamazoo; seven grandchildren, and 13 great-grandchildren.

Brand was born on 4-9-1866, in Tekonska, Mich., and came here from Remus, Mich. 22 years ago.

Friends may call at the Pifer funeral home. Services will be conducted by the Rev. L. George Beacock, and burial will be in Silverbrook cemetery.

Seaman Robert Charles Corey
Dec. 20, 1929-Aug. 20, 1950

Niles Daily Star, Tuesday, September 12, 1950; page 2 column 5, microfilm, Niles District Library

The body of Seaman Robert Charles Corey, who died as the result of strangulation while serving aboard ship on Aug. 20 with the navy, arrived at the Pifer funeral home this morning. Corey was the 20-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert F. Corey, 321 South Fifteenth street.

The Rev. L. George Beacock, Methodist pastor, will officiate at the services set at 2 p.m. Thursday at the Pifer funeral home, and the American Legion post will have (illegible text) services at Silverbrook cemetery.

Friends may call at the funeral home.

Herbert L. Spencer
July 5, 1875-June 24, 1950

Niles Daily Star, Saturday, June 24, 1950; page 2, column 6, microfilm, Niles District Library

Herbert L. Spencer, 74, of 202 Huron street, died at 8:30 a.m. today in Pawating hospital after an illness of six weeks.

Spencer was born July 5, 1875, in Ridgelow, Canada and moved here in 1907 from Detroit. He had retired after operating a dry cleaning establishment for many years. He was a member of the Knights of Pythias.

Surviving are his wife, Edith (illegible text) Spencer, both of Niles, and Dr. Perry Spencer, of Lansing.

Friends may call at the Kiger funeral home, where the Rev. Percy D. Jones will conduct funeral services at 2 p.m. Monday. Burial will be in Silverbrook cemetery.

Dr. George L. Tenney
Nov. 13, 1872-Sept. 11, 1950

Niles Daily Star, Monday, September 11, 1950; page 2, column 6, microfilm, Niles District Library

Dr. George L. Tenney, 77, nationally known educator, voice teacher and choir director, died at 6:30 a.m. today at Pawating hospital where he had been a patient for two weeks. Death was attributed to a cerebral hemorrhage.

In Niles, he was director of the choir at the First Presbyterian church. He also gave voice lessons to scores of Niles, Buchanan, and Laporte, Ind. Students and participated in many local music programs. He was a member of the First Presbyterian church, the Niles Rotary club and Alpha Tau Omega national fraternity.

Tenney was born on Nov. 13, 1872 in West Milton, O., the son of Irving and Jennie Tenney. He married the late Adelaide Miller on June 3, 1896, Denver, Colo. She died on Aug. 22, 1949.

Graduate of Ohio Wesleyan

After graduating from Wesleyan college in Ohio he taught school and then went on to hold professorships at several institutions of high learning. In 1933 he directed a choir of 6,000 voices at the Century of Progress exposition in Chicago. He was listed in the 15th edition of “Who’s Who”.

Among the teaching positions which Tenney has held were: professor of Latin and Greet at Lewis Institute, Chicago; dean of the College of Music at Florida Southern college, Lakeland, Fla., professor of English at Notre Dame from 1941 to 1943; and professor (illegible text) Midwestern Conservatory of Music, Chicago. He also operated a summer music camp at his ranch in Grover, Colo.

Came to Niles in 1943.

Tenney came to Niles in 1943, and resided on the Rangeline road, rural route three. He directed the choir at the Presbyterian church in Buchanan before being named choir director at the First Presbyterian church here.

Surviving are: two daughters, Mrs. Kathryn Boydston, of rural route three, Niles, and Mrs. Adalaide Williams, of Oak Park, Ill., a son, Walter E. Tenney, of New York City; a brother, Dr. W. H. Tenney of Toledo, O.; six grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Friends may call at the Swem funeral home in Buchanan until noon Wednesday and at the First Presbyterian church here between 1 and 2 p.m. Wednesday.

Funeral services will be held at the church at 2 p.m. with the Rev. T.M. Greenhoe officiating. Burial will be in Silverbrook cemetery.

Virginia Waters, of Niles
Sept. 17, 1918 — Oct. 29, 2014

Niles Daily Star, Published 9:51am Friday, October 31, 2014

Virginia Waters, formerly of Saginaw, died peacefully at her home in Frankenmuth on Oct. 29, 2014.

Born Martha Virginia Walton on Sept. 17, 1918, in Niles, Michigan, she was the daughter of Margaret Foster and Arthur Walton. She graduated from Niles High School in 1936. She attended Kalamazoo College, where she met her husband Spencer L. Waters. They graduated in 1940 and were married on March 7, 1942.

While Spencer was in the Navy during World War II she did graduate work in sociology at the University of Chicago. She and Spencer moved to Saginaw in 1950. He predeceased her in 1978. She moved to Frankenmuth in 1993.

In her professional life she was a social worker in Benton Harbor and Kalamazoo and later was owner and president of E.A. Boehm Company, wholesale picture framing supplies, in Saginaw. In retirement she was an active volunteer at Good Neighbors Mission, Underground Railroad women’s shelter and as a reading tutor with the Saginaw Public Schools. She was a longtime member of First Presbyterian Church, Saginaw, serving as an Elder from 1990 to 1992.

Her survivors include her four sons, Spencer M. (Deborah) of Brooklyn, New York, Robert (Mary) of Saugatuck, David (Marie) of West Bloomfield, and John (Eric Nygren) of Chicago; six grandchildren, Carole (Tim Ayer) of Douglas, Alaska, Andrew of Chicago, Samuel (Tristan) of Maquoketa, Iowa, Patrick of Thornton County, Colorado and Kelli and Molly of West Bloomfield; as well as three great-granddaughters, Lily, Keelyn and Brinley.

Virginia’s family will receive visitors on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2014, from 4 to 7 p.m. at Cederberg Funeral Home of Frankenmuth, 590 N. Franklin Street, Frankenmuth, Michigan. Committal Services will take place on Saturday, November 8, 2014, at 1 p.m. at Silverbrook Cemetery, Niles, MI. In lieu of flowers gifts may be sent to Good Neighbors Mission, 1318 Cherry Street, Saginaw, or the charity of your choice.

Please sign our guest book or share an online condolence with the family.