Virginia M. Sisk
April 23, 1932 - Feb. 4, 2015

BUCHANAN - Virginia M. Sisk, 82, of Buchanan, passed away on Wednesday, February 4, 2015, at the Cass County Medical Care Facility in Casso-polis. Virginia was born on April 23, 1932, to the late Jacob and Effie (Simpson) Myer in Buchanan, MI. On May 3, 1948, she married Paul Sisk Sr. at a ceremony in Buchanan. She is survived by her children, Paul "Ed" (Debra) Sisk Jr. of Buchanan, Caroline (Ed) Anderson of Niles, Larry (Judy) Sisk of Niles, Ronnie (Cindy) Sisk of Dowagiac and Steve Sisk of Dowagiac; sister, Helen Barlow of Buchanan; eleven grandchildren, twenty great-grandchild-ren and five great-great-grandchildren. Virginia was preceded in death by her parents, Jacob and Effie; husband of 54 years, Paul Sr; daughter, Connie; son, Danny; brothers, Jacob Jr., Harold and Donnie; and sisters, Gladys, Mary and Ruby. Viewing will be held from 4-7 pm on Sunday, February 8, 2015, at Hoven Funeral Home, Buchanan. Funeral services will take place at 11 am on Monday, February 9, 2015, at Hoven Funeral Home. Burial will follow at Silverbrook Cemetery, Niles. Online condolences may be made at www.hovenfunerals.com

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/southbendtribune/obituary.aspx?n=virginia-sisk&pid=174075724&fhid=8853#sthash.OzU7Mtlb.dpuf

Eugene Allen Southworth, of Niles
July 25, 1927 — Feb. 9, 2015

Niles Daily Star, Published online 9:57am Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Eugene Allen Southworth, 87, of Niles, Michigan died at 7:35 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 9, 2015, at Woodland Terrace following a brief illness.

He was born on July 25, 1927 in Benton Harbor to Marian Alice (Platt) and Orville Lincoln Southworth. The family moved to Niles when he was three years old, and it was here he called home.

Eugene Allen Southworth

Al told classic stories of the days before TV – ice skating on a pond near the French Paper Mill dam, delivering newspapers to make a few cents, riding a skateboard down the Main Street hill and having to jump off before hitting the river. He graduated from Niles High School in 1945. He was a lifelong member of Wesley United Methodist Church.

Al joined the Navy the day he turned 18, although World War II was waning. He was stationed in Memphis, Tennessee where he met his first wife, Gussye Miller. They had three children, Deborah (deceased in 2005), Michael (wife, Sherri), and Genna (husband, David Fredrickson).

Al worked for the Bendix Corporation for 38 years, working his way up from a stenographer to a Senior Buyer. He said that life was too short to have a job you didn’t like, and that there was never a day in those 38 years that he did not want to get up and go to work. He retired from Bendix (now Allied Signal) in 1989.

In 1974, Al was set up on a blind date with a former high school classmate, Charlotte Hess Schweinzger. Four months later, on July 27 they were married and the family expanded to include Char’s children, Eric (wife, Jane), Sara (husband, Daryll Atkinson), and Lynn. The union also brought Al into a close group of fun-loving friends whose antics, parties and vacations provided much needed levity in his life. Al’s role usually involved the kitchen and cooking – having taught himself to cook as a single father of three, he continued to be the keeper of the hearth, always ready with food and preparing for the next two days’ meals in advance. This was especially true when all of the grown children came back for holidays.

Al was a collector of antiques, known for his Early American primitive furniture and his oil lamp collection. He and Char loved to poke around antique shops, got to Port Huron to watch the lake freighters, hunt morel mushrooms, and travel to New England to “see the colors” in the fall. They had a condo on Marco Island, Florida for many years where they would spend their winters.

From their combined children Al enjoyed his grandchildren – Mike’s kids, Scott, Emily, & Ellie; Genna’s son, Steen; Eric’s children, Ryan (wife, Meaghan) and Jennifer (husband Mike Zemaitis); and Sara’s crew, Jeffrey (wife, Rachel), Melissa (husband, Jon Arcongi), and Amanda. Currently, there are nine great-grandchildren, with two more on the way. His sister, Nancy Trommater also survives, along with his nephew, Eric and niece Pam. His niece, Jill preceded him.

With declining health and ability to travel, Al and Char moved into Woodland Terrace in 2012. Charlotte passed away in April 2013. In his last days, all of Al’s children were close at hand, bringing laughter and love. If the measure of who you are is in the love you pass on, he was a great man. He will be missed.

The funeral service for E. Allen Southworth will be at 11 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 13, 2015, at Wesley United Methodist Church in Niles with the Rev. Cathi Huvaere of the church officiating. Committal will follow at Silverbrook Cemetery in Niles, and will conclude with the Veteran’s Flag presentation and “Taps”.

The family will receive relatives and friends on Thursday from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Halbritter Funeral Home in Niles. Contributions in memory of Al may be made to Fernwood Botanical Garden & Nature Preserve.

www.halbritterfunerals.com

Floyd Stevens, Sr.
March 6, 1898 – September 16, 1964

Niles Daily Star, September 16, 1964

Floyd Stevens, 66, of 2804 Beeson Road, was pronounced dead on arrival at Pawating Hospital at 5:20 a.m. today.  His death was unexpected.

Mr. Stevens, who retired from the Tyler Corporation in 1963, was born March 6, 1898, in South Bend.  He came to Niles from that city and lived most of his life in this community.

Survivors include his widow, Beatrice; two daughters, Mrs. Dick Cuthbert, Niles, and Mrs. Enid Myatt, Jr., La Grange, IL; a son, George, a step-daughter, Mrs. Aline Sheeley, and a brother, Clyde, all of Niles; and nine grandchildren.

Funeral services will be conducted at 3 p.m. Friday in the Pifer Funeral Home.  The Rev. Ralph Pletcher, pastor of Coulter’s Chapel, will officiate.  Place of burial is not yet known.

Friends are being received at the funeral home.

Floyd Stevens, Jr.
January 29, 1924 – July 25, 1942

Niles Daily Star,  July 25, 1942

Stevens, Ex-Bertrand Boy, Killed Cycling Near Elkhart

Paying with his life for a few moments of carelessness, Floyd Stevens, Jr., 18, Three Oaks, a former resident of the Bertrand community, suffered fatal injuries early this morning in a head-on bicycle-automobile collision near Elkhart.

The youth, son of Floyd Stevens, Sr., Route 1, Three Oaks, died at 1:35 this morning in Elkhart General hospital of a multiple skull fracture and other injuries suffered a half-hour earlier when the bicycle he was riding on US-33, two miles west of Elkhart, was struck by a car driven by James L. Wimberly, 45, Elkhart.

On Return Jaunt

With three companions, a cousin, Jay Frederick Stevens, 17, Rosalie Nagy, 17, and Cathryn Wolverton, all of Elkhart, the Stevens boy was returning to Elkhart after a bicycle ride to Mishawaka, when the accident occurred.

 Stevens had been visiting his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. George Stevens, Elkhart, since Wednesday and was riding a new bicycle, with lights front and rear, when the two couples started out Friday night.

According to a statement made later by the Nagy girl, however, Stevens swapped bicycles with her ‘just for fun’ shortly before the accident.  Riding her bicycle, without lights, Stevens put his feet on the handlebars and steered out into the center of the road to pass a parked car.

Passing Truck

At the moment Wimberly, driving in the opposite direction, swung into the left lane to pass a truck and his car struck the bicycle head-on.  Wimberly, who reported he saw nothing in the road but stopped immediately when his car struck “something” and his windshield was broken by the impact was not held.  Inquest arrangements are incomplete.”

Stevens was born in South Bend Jan. 20, 1924.  Surviving with his father and stepmother, near Three Oaks, are two sisters, Mrs. Marie Cuthbert, Route 4, Niles, and Mrs. Enid Ramsby, Bertrand; a brother, George Stevens, at home, and the grandparents.

Rites here Monday

Friends may call at the Price and Kiger funeral home where the services will be conducted Monday afternoon at 3.  The Rev. Floyd W. Johnston, pastor of the First Baptist church, will officiate.  Burial will be in Silverbrook cemetery.

Charles Jewett Sr.
June 13, 1810-Dec. 20, 1880

Niles Republican, Thursday, December 23, 1880, page 3, col. 2, microfilm Niles District Library

Death of Judge Charles Jewett

This community was startled on Monday morning last by the announcement of the death of Judge Charles Jewett, which occurred at 2 o'clock that morning.  It is well known that Judge Jewett has been in poor health for a great many years, a number of the winter months each year being spent in his room, if not in bed, but the immediate cause of his death was lung fever, resulting from a cold contracted a short time before.  Charles Jewett was a plain, blunt man, having no sympathy with the shame and blandishments that too often cover a bad motive or sinister intent. All men knew where he stood on all questions, whether of National or local concern. He was a man of  strong friendship and lively dislike; he was frank, outspoken and bluntly honest in his expressions and dealings.  He was no flatterer, and wanted no flattery. Had he dreamed, a week ago, that anything eulogistic would be written about him, he would have left a protest.

Judge Jewett was of a long-lived family, a number of his brothers, being about 90 at their death, and his sister, the mother of John G. Saxe, dying at the age of 98 years about a year ago.

Judge Jewett was a native of Vermont, and came from that State, with his wife, to his city in 1836. When he came here there were but three white families living on the west side of the river; Samuel Street, two miles west on the Chicago road; David Vanderhoof, four miles out on the same road, and Mr. Ogden, about a mile west of the village.  Mr. Jewett studied law in Middlebury, Vermont, and was admitted to the bar at Cassopolis. He first office was on Front street, south of Main. He subsequently had an office in the Arcade block, which he occupied for sixteen years.  He was appointed prosecuting attorney in 1837, and was elected county judge, under the old system, in 1848, served several years as justice of the peace, and was probate judge from 1860 to 1864. He leaves a most excellent wife, who deeply mourns his loss, two sons, Erwin S., of Kansas City, and Edward B., of Emporia, Kansas, and a daughter, Mrs. Wm. E. Jones, of St. Louis.

The Chicago Times, of Tuesday, has the following dispatch in reference to the deceased:

NILES, Mich., Dec. 20—Hon. Charles Jewett died at his residence, on St. Joseph avenue, at 8 o'clock this morning, in the 76th year of his age, of a complication of diseases, after a long illness, during which his sufferings were intense—Judge Jewett was born in Addison county, Vermont, June 13, 1810, and came to Niles in 1886.  He was a graduate of Middlebury College, where he read law and was admitted to the bar at Cassopolis in this State, soon after he came here. He served this county as Judge of Probate, Prosecuting Attorney and County Judge, under the old judicial system, and was Justice of the Peace for many years.

Niles Republican, Thursday, December 23, 1880, page 3, col. 1, microfilm Niles District Library

Erv. S. Jewett and sons, Masters Scovell and Harry, and Capt. Ed. S. Jewett, of Kansas city, arrived Tuesday night to attend their father's funeral.

Niles Democrat, Saturday, December 25, 1880, page 3, col. 4, microfilm Niles District Library

Hon. Charles Jewett.

Again the church bell tolls, and another spirit has taken its flight to the eternal world. Judge Charles Jewett, ripe in years and crowned with honors, peacefully closed his eyes in death, at his residence in this place on Monday morning last. He had been more less of an invalid for quite a number of years past, but notwithstanding his ailments he attended to and transacted a considerable amount of legal business. His mind through all his various ailments remained clear and comprehensive, and his judgment sound and reliable to the last. Mr. Jewett was a native of Vermont, and came to Niles in the year 1835, and has been a resident here almost ever since and during this time he has filled various offices of honor and trust, Judge of the circuit court, Probate Jude, and various other offices, and in all of which he was faithful to the trust committed to his keeping, strictly honest, and honorable in all his dealings with his fellowmen. His counsel and wise judgment will be greatly missed by the many who entrusted him with their business up to the time of his death. Thus one after another of the old and valuable land marks are fading out, leaving the young generation to miss their wholesome teachings and mourn their loss. The funeral of Judge Jewett was delayed until Thursday afternoon, in order that his children from the far west and other places could get here to take the last parting look at their beloved father. Judge Jewett was in the 71^st year of his age.

Niles Democrat, Saturday, December 25, 1880, page 3, col. 1, microfilm Niles District Library

Ed. Jewitt, of Emporita, Kansas, and Erwin Jewitt, of Kansas City, are in our city, called here by the death of their father, Judge Jewett..

Leonard Whitney
1808-Dec. 12, 1880

Niles Republican, Thursday, December 16, 1880, page 3, col. 2, microfilm Niles District Library

Deacon Leonard Whitney died at his home in Lincoln township on the 13th inst. He was an old citizen of Niles, and was buried here beside his wife, yesterday, in Silver Brook cemetery. Mr. Whitney came to Niles in 1836, and remained here until 1857, when he removed to Lincoln township, where he had since lived.  When he was in this city he was a leading member and deacon of the Congregational church, and an active business man, engaged in some manufacturing. He is well remembered by the older settlers.

 Niles Democrat, Saturday, December 18, 1880, page 3, col. 2, microfilm Niles District Library

Deacon Leonard Whitney died at his home in Lincoln township on Monday last. His remains were brought to Niles and buried beside those of his wife in Silver Brook cemetery. Mr. Whitney was an old settler of this place and county.