Mary Hydorn
April 11, 1947-June 17, 1954
Niles Daily Star, Friday, June 18, 1954, page 1, col. 2, microfilm Niles District Library
Car Kills Cassopolis Girl, Seven
Niles-Buchanan Road Scene of Traffic Death
Mary Hydorn Struck by Auto Driven by Mrs. Schneider of Buchanan
A seven-year-old rural Cassopolis girl on a summer holiday visit with her grandparents here died at 7:10 p.m. Thursday in Pawating Hospital from injuries sustained when she was struck by a car at 5:35 p.m. on the Niles-Buchanan road.
Listed by Niles State Police as Berrien County's 15th traffic fatality this year, was Mary Hydorn, 7, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Hydorn, rural route, Cassopolis. Hospital officials said she sustained a basal skull fracture and fractured leg. Coroner Harding Dey of St. Joseph was expected to issue a statement today.
The driver of he car, Mrs. Lillian Schneider, 305 Days avenue, Buchanan, told police she was traveling west on the Niles-Buchanan road and as she approached Kings road she saw the child standing on the north shoulder of the road. The next thing she knew, she said, the little girl was standing out in the road near the centerline.
Mrs. Schneider also stated that she applied her brakes and attempted to swerve her car to avoid hitting the child. Police said the injured child was found lying more than 91 feet from a mail box on the north side of the road and said skid marks made by the car measured over 61 feet.
Fred Heide, 1307 Grant street, the victim's grandfather, told police that he and his granddaughter had just returned from town and that he had let out at the mailbox to pick up the mail.
He said he drove into the drive, parked the car in the garage and was just getting out of it when he heard the child scream. She had been visiting the Heides since Monday.
Mrs. Schneider and a motorist who witnessed the fatal mishap were scheduled for a conference with Prosecutor William S. White here today. Police are holding their investigation open pending the prosecutor's decision.
Surviving besides her parents and grandparents are two sisters and brother, Bonnie and Joan and Jerry, at home, and a grandmother, Mrs. Nona Strange, Buchanan.
She was born April 11, 1947, in Niles, and had lived in this area all her life. She attended Dibble Dale School in Howard Township and had just completed first grad.
Friends may call at the Pifer Funeral Home after 4 p.m. today. Services will be held at the funeral home at 4 p.m. Saturday with the Rev. R.L. McCoy, pastor of the First Baptist Church presiding. Burial will be in Silverbrook cemetery.