Clifford Shirk
Sept. 1, 1901-Feb. 29, 1956
Niles Daily Star (Niles, Berrien Co., MI), Wednesday, February 29, 1954, page 2, col. 4, microfilm Niles District Library
Clifford Shirk, 54, 0f 2221 South Third street, died at 11:05 a.m., today at Osteopathic Hospital, South Bend. He was composing room foreman at The Daily Star and had been employed by The Star for 32 years.
He suffered a fractured hip Monday in a fall on ice at the rear of The Star building and was removed to the South Bend hospital. Cause of death was not immediately determined and an autopsy was scheduled to be performed this afternoon at the Orvis Funeral Home in South Bend.
Mr. Shirk was a native of Mishawaka, served in the Navy and was employed by a South Bend printing firm before coming to Niles.
The widow and three daughters survive. Obituary details and funeral arrangements are incomplete.
Niles Daily Star (Niles, Berrien Co., MI), Thursday, March 1, 1954, page 2, col. 4, microfilm Niles District Library
SHIRK RITES SET
Services for Clifford Shirk, 54, of 2221 South Third Street Road, who died Wednesday morning, will be held at 3:30 p.m., Saturday at the Pifer Funeral Home where friends may call beginning tonight.
The Rev. L. George Beacock, pastor of the First Methodist Church, will officiate. Burial will be at Silverbrook Cemetery.
Following an autopsy performed by a Chicago pathologist at South Bend yesterday, the cause of death was instant meduliary failure (brain center failure)) caused by peritonitis due to a ruptured gastric ulcer. An osteopathic physician said there was no indication of a fractured skull and no proof that a fractured hip bore any relationship to the cause of death.
Shirk suffered a fractured hip in a fall on ice at the rear of the Daily Star building Monday morning.
Born Swept. 7, 1901 at Mishawaka, Shirk came to Niles from South Bend about 32 years ago.
Survivors are his widow; three daughters, Mrs. Harry Hibiske, Mrs. Robert Kirkpatrick and Mrs. Milton Warner, all of Niles; nine grandchildren; two brothers, Lawrence S. Shirk of South bend, and Willis K. Shirk, Osceola, Ind., and a sister, Mrs. James Miller of Mishawaka.