Gordon Andrew Conrad
Feb. 11, 1882-March 24, 1944

Niles Daily Star, Friday, March 24, 1944, page 2, col. 6, microfilm Niles District Library

GORDON CONRAD TAKEN BY DEATH

Gordon Andrew Conrad, 62, died this morning in the home of his son, Everett Conrad, 427 South Lincoln avenue, after an illness of two years.

Born in Bristol, Feb. 11, 1882, he had lived most of his life in this community.  A carpenter, he formerly was employed by the French Paper company.

Surviving are a brother, Otis Conrad, Route 1, Niles, and three grandchildren.

Services will be conducted at 2 Monday in the Price and Kiger chapel by the Rev. J. Kenneth Hoffmaster.  Burial will be in Silverbrook cemetery.

Sylvester L. Dickeson
Oct. 12, 1908-July 5, 1971

Niles Daily Star, Tuesday, July 6, 1971, page 2, col. 2, microfilm Niles District Library

NILES—Sylvester L. Dickenson, 62, of Kalamazoo, a native of Nils, died Monday in Kalamazoo after an extended illness.

Born Oct. 12, 1908, in Niles, Mr. Dickeson had lived in this area most of his life.

Survivors include a brother, Virgil of Niles, and four sisters, Mrs. Burton Cheney, Mrs. Ellis Hoyt and Opal Dickeson, all of Niles, and Mrs. Raymond Yung of Hamlet, Ind.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday in the Halbritter Funeral Home, with the Rev. Calvin A. Schmid officiating. Burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery.

Friends may call after 4 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home.

Note:  Name is spelled Dickenson in obituary; however, cemetery record, death certificate and grave marker spell as Dickeson.

Grace Maude Dittmar
Feb. 10, 1878-Oct. 5, 1930

Niles Daily Star, Monday, October 6, 1930, page 1, col. 6, microfilm Niles District Library

MRS. GEORGE DITTMAR DIES OF HEART FAILURE
Passes Away at Pawating Hospital After Short Illness

Mrs Grace Maude Dittmar, wife of George R. Dittmar, 626 S. Fifth street, died a 5:15  Sunday afternoon in Pawating hospital where she had been a patient for a few days from heart trouble.

Mrs. Dittmar was born in Cass county, near Niles, on Feb. 10, 1878. Her maiden name was Grace Maude Smith. She was married 1888[sic] at South Bend to Mr. Dittmar, who survives her.  Beside her husband she is survived by four sons  who are Clifford, Cecil, Lawrence and Lee, all of Niles and the later at home. Besides the husband and sons she is survived by three sisters and one brother, who are Mrs. Laura Salee of Elkhart, Ind., Mrs. Amy Trudeaux of Homewood, Ill., Mrs. Lizzie Leach of Petoskey, and Major Smith of Niles. Mrs. Salee is in the city and Mrs. Trudeaux and Mrs. Leach are expected for the funeral services.

The funeral services will be held in the Methodist church on Wednesday afternoon at 2:30 with the pastor, the Rev. W.W. Slee in charge. Burial will be in Silver Brook cemetery.  Mrs. Dittmar was a member of the Woman's Benefit Association.

Niles Daily Star (Niles, Berrien Co., MI) Tuesday, October 7, 1930, page 4, col. 1, microfilm Niles District Library

Niles News in Brief: HERE FOR FUNERAL

Mrs. Amy Trudeau, of Homewood, Ill., has arrived in the city on account of the death of her sister, Mrs. George Dittmar, 626 S. Fifth street. Another sister, Mrs. I.W. Leach and her son, Merle and his family, are motoring to Niles from Petoskey and are expected here tomorrow for the funeral services which are to be held in the Methodist church at 2:30. The Rev. W.W. Slee will officiate. Burial will be made in Silver Brook cemetery.

Niles Daily Star (Niles, Berrien Co., MI) Wednesday, October 8, 1930, page 4, col. 2, microfilm Niles District Library

Niles News in Brief: FUNERAL MRS. DITTMAR

Funeral services for Mrs. George F. Dittmar were held this afternoon in the Methodist church. The pastor, the Rev. W.W. Slee, officiated. The pallbearers were selected from the relatives of the deceased. Burial was made in Silver Brook cemetery.

Note: Death record gives dob as Feb. 10, 1877

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.

Esther Hance
April 29, 1900-July 21, 1971

Niles Daily Star, Wednesday, July 21, 1971, page 2, col. 2, microfilm Niles District Library

NILES—Mrs. Esther C. Hance, 71, 1316 park Lane, a lifetime resident of Niles, died at 7:20 a.m. Wednesday in Pawating Hospital, following an illness of three weeks.

Mrs. Hance was born April 29, 1900. She was a retired employe of Simplicity Pattern Co. and a member of the Trinity Episcopal Church choir for 40 years.

Her husband, Benjamin, died in 1938.

Mrs. Hance is survived by a son, Thomas of Sunnyvale, Calif.; two daughters, Mrs. James E. Thompson of Stevensville and Mrs. John C. Downey of Elgin Air Force Base, Fla., 13 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Trinity Episcopal Church. The Rev. Fr. Vincent Anderson will officiate and burial will be at the Silverbrook Cemetery.

Friends may call at the Halbritter Funeral Home after 7 p.m. Thursday.

Memorials may be given to the Trinity Episcopal Church Memorial Fund.

Thomas C. Hance
April 23, 1876-Oct. 5, 1930

Niles Daily Star, Monday, October 6, 1930, page 1, col. 1, cont. page 2, microfilm Niles District Library

THOMAS C. HANCE, FORMER POSTMASTER AND MAYOR, IS DEAD
Cashier of city National Bank and Trust Co., Passes Away Sunday Night
WAS ILL SEVERAL MONTHS
Attack of Influenza Recently Found His Health Undermined

The community was shocked by news of the death at 10:30 o'clock last night of Thomas C. Hance, cashier and trust officer of the City National Bank & Trust company, former postmaster and mayor andone of the best known and liked citizens of Niles.

Mr. Hance died in Pawating hospital where he was taken on Monday of last week when his condition became serious after an illness of several months. The immediate cause of death was Brights disease and complications. Following the retirement from the mayor's office last April he was stricken with a nervous breakdown and was ordered by his physician to take a complete rest for several months. He had declined renomination because of pres of business duties and ill health.

During the summer Mr. Hance spent most of his enforced rest at Barron lake, often going fishing. He occasionally went to the bank and about three weeks ago attempted to resume his duties as cashier and trust officer. After a few hours work at the bank each day for a few days he was again compelled to take complete rest. He had contracted a cold which developed into influenza and heart trouble. He condition became rapidly worse until he went to the hospital.

While it was known that his condition  was critical his death came as a distinct shock to a host of friends and business associates.  His loss is mourned by the entire community. His passing is considered a distinct and irreparable loss to this community.  Always a public spirited citizen, he had long taken part in the public life of the community and was always ready to sacrifice his  time and energies for the public welfare.

His efforts to serve well as mayor during the two years of his term is believed to have contributed materially to  Mr. Hance breakdown. He accepted the nomination with great reluctance two years ago last march, and he was elected in a landslide of votes, that was a high testimonial to the esteem in which he was held by his fellow citizens.

Born on a farm a mile and a half west of Niles, the son of the late Benjamin M. and Georgia Smith DeCondres Hance, he was a lifelong resident of the Niles community, although are for 16 years while the filling the post of secretary to the late Congressman E.L. Hamilton. Mr. Hance was born April 23, 1876. He was an only child.

Mr. Hance spent practically all his adult life in Public and quasi-public service, including a four-year term as Niles postmaster. He was graduated from the Niles High school in 1894 and the next year attended the University of Minnesota.  In 1906 he went to Washington as secretary to Congressman Hamilton and spent 16 years at the capital.

Three years after taking the Washington appointment he was married to Genevieve Corell, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George A. Corell, also a pioneer family who reside on the old Chicago road west of Niles.  The Hance family was widely known in this section. The elder Hance was a vineyardist whose grapes became so well known that “Hance grapes” were in demand.  The farm was located on the ridge section west a mile and half, which was known as “Vinegar Hill,” because so much vinegar was made from the grape crop there.

Mr. Hance served with Congressman Hamilton until late in 1911, when his accepted appointment of the postmastership of Niles on Dec. 30, becoming the twenty-first postmaster of this city and following  Carmi R. Smith who had been postmaster from 1903 to 1912. Mr. Hance was succeeded by F.W. Richter, appointed under the democratic administration of Woodrow Wilson.

During the time that he was secretary to Congressman Hamilton, Mr. Hance was in close touch with national affairs. He was clerk of the congressional committee on territories in the year in which Arizona and New Mexico were admitted to statehood and wrote the bill which admitted Arizona.

[Illegible]. . . and known as the Niles City Bank, in January 1916, succeeding George L. Faurote. He held the position of cashier until his death. He was elected a director in 1918, and two years ago when the bank was converted into a national bank, with addition of a trust department and change of name to City National Bank & Trust company, he was given the added post of trust office.

To the marriage union were born three children, all of whom, with the widow, survive. They are Ben. M. Hance of Niles; Mrs. Allen Belknap of Chicago and Mrs. Jack Rabe of Dowagiac. Mrs. Rabe is the wife of the athletic coach of the Dowagiac High school. Also four grandchildren survive, Thomas C. Hance II and Mary Ann Hance and Diane Rabe and Ann Rabe.

Mr. Hance was a lifetime churchman and for many years been a elder and treasurer of the board of trustees of the First Presbyterian church. For many years he had been teacher of the What-So-Ever Sunday school class. He was a Mason, an Elk and a member of the Knights of Pythias in the Masons. He was treasurer of [illegible] Chapter, member of the Council and a past emminent[sic] commander of the Commandery. He joined the Elks two years ago when a large class was taken in on completion of the new temple.

During the last three years Mr. Hance was a member of an informal club of Mah Jong players, four in number and all lifelong friends who met every Monday night in winter to play. The other members were Circuit Judge Charles E. White, Floyd J. Wood and C.M. Montague.  Twice each season the tally was counted the losing two paid for dinner for the winners.

The funeral will be held at 2 o'clock Tuesday from the Presbyterian church, with the Rev. Guy W. Simon, pastor and close friend of Mr. Hance, officiating. The body will lie in state at the church from 11:30 until 1:45 o'clock. Pallbearers will be Judge C.E. White, Floyd J. Wood,J. Walter Wood, Dr. L.G.Platt, Dr. Paul VanRiper of Champion, Mich., and Dr. Robert Henderson. Burial will be in Silver Brook Cemetery.

Among persons who will come from out of town will be Dr. and Mrs. Paul VanRiper of Champion,Mich., Mr. and Mrs. H.B. Corell of Lansing and Mrs. Jas. McGee of Flint.