Benjamin M. Hance
Oct. 10, 1900-May 21, 1938
Niles Daily Star, Monday, May 23, 1938, page 1, col. 5, microfilm Niles District Library
BENJAMIN M. HANCE, 10TH TRAFFIC VICTIM OF '38, BURIED TODAY
Crash Near New Buffalo Saturday Takes Life of Niles Man
Funeral services for Benjamin M. Hance, 37, Berrien country's tenth traffic victim of the year, were held at 2:30 o'clock this afternoon in the Price and Kiger funeral home. The rev. Harry L. Nicholson officiated. Burial was in Silverbrook cemetery.
Mr. Hance was instantly killed at 1:30 o'clock Saturday afternoon when his automobile crashed into a parked car, owned by Charles D. Strawbridge, Muncie, Ind. The tragedy occurred three miles east of New Buffalo on M-60.
Heart Punctured
Death resulted from a punctured heart suffered when the steering wheel shaft was drive into his chest. Mr. Hance also suffered a fractured skull. His dog, riding with him, was uninjured.
Mrs. Strawbridge, seated in her car at the time of the crash, escaped with only minor injuries. She was waiting for her husband, who had stopped to make a call at the Paddock farm.
According to state police, the Strawbridge car was parked off the highway, and was driven approximately 56 feet by the impact.
Mrs. Strawbridge told police she saw the Hance car approaching from the west, but thought that it would pass. Evidently the driver last control just before reaching her car, she said.
Son of Former Mayor
The son of the late Thomas C. Hance, former Niles mayor, Mr. Hance lived at 914 Oak street. He had been employed as a salesman for the Interstate Glass and paint company of South Bend for the last eight years.
He is survived by his mother, Mrs. Genevieve Hance, Niles; his widow, the former Ester[sic] Cranston who he married in Dowagiac Aug. 29, 1922; three children, Thomas, Mary Ann and Dare, Niles; also two sisters, Mrs. Jack Rabe, Dearborn,and Mrs. Allen Belknap, LaGrange, Ill.
A World war veteran, Mrs. Hance was born in Niles township Oct. 10, 1900. He was a member of the Presbyterian church, the American Legal and Veterans of Foreign wars. He had spent his entire life in Berrien county.
Niles Daily Star, Tuesday, May 24, 1938, page 2, col. 2, microfilm Niles District Library
SERVE AS PALLBEARERS
Carl Radewald, Charles Mason, Reynold Wood, Clayton Harrah, Joseph Thompson and Burton Stahlberg served as pallbearers for Benjamin M. Hance, 37. Rites were conducted by the Rev. Harry L. Nicholson in the Price and Kiger funeral home. Burial was in Silverbrook cemetery. Mr. Hance was instantly killed Saturday afternoon in an automobile accident near New Buffalo.
Galien River Gazette, Thursday, May 26, 1938, page 1, col. 6, microfilm Niles District Library
Niles Man Killed in M-60 Traffic Accident Saturday
Benjamin M. Hance, 37, of Niles the father of three children, was instantly killed last Saturday when the car he was driving crashed in to the parked automobile of C.D. Strawbridge of South Bend on M-60, three miles west of Three Oaks.
Hance was alone in the car, except for a small dog which escaped injury. It was evident that he drove at high speed directly into the rear of the other machine which was parked several feet off the pavement and which was driven ahead almost 60 feet by the impact. In the car at the time was Mrs. Strawbridge who was bruised and shaken up but otherwise uninjured. Mr. Strawbridge was in a farm home nearby attending to a business matter.
Surviving Mr. Hance is a widow and three children. He was the son of the late Thomas C. Hance, one-time mayor of Niles and a prominent man in that city.