Obituaries

We now have over 7,000 obituaries collected about the interred here at Silverbrook Cemetery.

The obituaries are transcribed by the volunteers of the Friends of Silverbrook Cemetery from various sources.  If you see an opportunity for an addition or a correction, please email our obituary editor at obits@friendsofsilverbrook.org.

Barnes, Maria

Maria Barnes
April 16, 1867-Dec. 9, 1963

Niles Daily Star, Tuesday, December 10, 1963, page 2, col. 4, microfilm Niles District Library

Mrs. Maria (Minnie) Barnes, 96, of 1614 Oak St., died at 1:30 p.m. Monday in her home. She had been ill three weeks.

Mrs. Barnes was born April 16, 1867, in Ypsilanti. She came to Niles from that city in 1934. Her husband, Charles, is deceased.

She was a member of Trinity Episcopal Church.

Funeral services will be conducted at 1 p.m. Wednesday in the Kiger Funeral Home. The Rev. John Carlton, pastor of her church, will officiate. Burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery.

Friends are being received at the funeral home.

Bower, Samuel

Samuel Bower
Nov. 2, 1864- Sept. 26, 1943

Niles Daily Star, Monday, September 27, 1943, page 2, col. 5, microfilm Niles District Library

SAMUEL BOWER, 79, STRICKEN SUNDAY

Samuel Bower, 79, of 330 North Fourth street, died at 10 Sunday morning in the Berrien county hospital at Berrien Center after a year's illness.

Born in Whitley county , Indiana, Bower came to Niles 25 years ago and engaged in the antique furniture business. He retired several years ago after the death of his wife.

Surviving are a sister, Mrs. Frank Ganz, Bourbon, Ind.; a brother, Elmer Bower, Columbia City, Ind., and a sister-in-law, Mrs. Margaret Hively, Niles.

Friends may call at the Price and Kiger funeral home where services will be conducted Tuesday at 2 by the Rev. Theodore Laesch. Burial will be in Silverbrook cemetery.

 

Niles Daily Star, Tuesday, September 28, 1943, page 2, col. 2, microfilm Niles District Library

PALLBEARERS

S.M. Simpson, Ellsworth Lauritsen, Elmer Ruetz, Goerge Kneeshaw, Charles Adams, and Rollie Wynn served as pallbearers this afternoon for Samuel Bower, who died Sunday morning. Services were conducted by the Rev. Theodore Laesch in the Price and Kiger funeral home.

Note: DOB from Michigan Death record.

 

Boxley, Michael Elisha

Michael Elisha Boxley
May 7, 1954-July 13, 1963

Niles Daily Star, Saturday, July 13, 1963, page 2, col. 3, microfilm Niles District Library

MICHAEL ELISHA Boxley, 9, of 20 ½ E. Main St., was pronounced dead on arrival at 6 a.m. today at Pawating Hospital.

His mother, Mrs. Eric Doty, told Niles police he probably suffered one of his bronchial asthma attacks. The boy had been ill for three years, according to a report by the Kiger Funeral home.

Police were called to the Doty home at 5:40 a.m. By his mother. She said he had collapsed. Dr. John R. Bruni pronounced the youth dead on arrival at the hospital.

He was born May 7, 1954, in Berrien Springs. Surviving in addition to his parents are four sisters, Zeri, Zelda, Nann and Kim, all at home; and his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs Elisha Davis, Niles.

Funeral services will be held at the Mt. Calvary Baptist Church . .[illegible].. .Burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home.

Bracken, Clara

Clara Bracken
Nov. 15, 1872-Sept. 22, 1963

Niles Daily Star, Monday, September 23, 1963, page 2, col. 4, microfilm Niles District Library

Funeral services for Miss Clara Bracken, 90, of 621 N. 6th St., will be conducted at 2 pm. Wednesday in the Kiger Funeral Home. The Rev. John MacLachlan, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, will officiate. Burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery.

She died at 4:30 p.m. Sunday in Pawating Hospital, shortly after being admitted.

Miss Bracken was born Nov. 15, 1872, in Brighton, Iowa. She lived most of her life here.

Surviving are five nieces, Mrs. Arthur Storms, Benton Harbor, Mrs. Robert Lyons, Mount Prospect, Ill., Mrs. John Jackson, Ozark, Ala., Mrs. E.J. Larsen, St. Petersburg, Fla., and Mrs. William Briggs, Champaign, Ill.; and two nephews, Wallace Bracken, New York State, and Worth Bracken, Fort Worth, Tex.

She was the oldest charter member of the First Presbyterian Church.

Friends are being received at the funeral home.

Bybee, Dow

Dow Bybee
April 22, 1889-Oct. 20, 1943

Niles Daily Star, Thursday, October 21, 1943, page 2, col. 6, microfilm Niles District Library

Dow Bybee, Armada, Mich., son of Mrs. Mary Ellen Bybee, Niles, died Wednesday night at 10 in St. Joseph Hospital, Mount Clemens, after an illness of four weeks.

He was born in Marshall county, Ind. Surviving, besides his mother are his wife, Mrs. Jennie Bybee, a daughter, Miss Isabelle Bybee, Chicago; four brothers, Walter, Lyman and Ernest Bybee, all of Niles, Melvin Bybee, Detroit,and a sister, Mrs. Bessie Lowe, Rochester, Ind.

The body will arrive in Niles Friday. Services will be conducted Saturday afternoon at 2 in the Rutherford funeral home. Burial will be in Silverbrook cemetery.

 

Champion, Charles Henry

Charles Henry Champion
Nov. 3, 1862-Nov. 5, 1943

Niles Daily Star, Friday, November 5, 1943, page 2, col. 6, microfilm Niles District Library

CHARLES CHAMPION, 81, STRICKEN TODAY

Charles Henry Champion, 81, lifelong resident of Niles and former school teacher, died this morning at 6:50 in his home, 205 South Fifth street, after an illness of two weeks.

He was born Nov. 3, 1862, in Niles. Champion taught in the Bertrand and Oak Grove schools and was associated from 1891 to 1917 with his brothers, George and William, in a grocery business. He also had been employed in the John Forler grocery. He was a member of the Methodist church.

Surviving are a sister, Miss Ella Champion, and two brothers, George and Frank Champion, all of Niles.

Friends may call in the Price and Kiger Chapel, where services will be conducted Saturday afternoon at 3 by the Rev. J. Kenneth Hoffmaster, pastor of the Methodist church. Burial will be in Silverbrook cemetery.

Clavereign, Frank

Frank Clavereign
Oct. 18, 1860-Oct. 6, 1943

Niles Daily Star, Saturday, October 9, 1943, page 2, col. 3, microfilm Niles District Library

Frank Clevereign Rites Conducted Here; Masons Aid

Funeral services for Frank Clavereign, 82, who died Wednesday in the Masonic hospital at Sullivan, Ill., were held at 2 this afternoon in the Price and Kiger funeral chapel with the Rev. Harry L. Nicholson officiating. Members of the Masonic order conducted rites at Silverbrook cemetery.

He was superintendent for a nation-wide hotel system with offices in Chicago. He had been ill for two years.

He is survived by his widow, Ida G., who was a daughter of the late Jacob Brown, Niles; a daughter, Mrs. J.A. Bybee, Niles; a granddaughter, Mrs. Joseph Sloan; and a grandson, Roy C. Bybee, in the United states air corps.

A 33rd degree Mason, he was a member of Medinah temple, Ladeside lodge, and the Blue lodge.