Sadie Ames Fritts
Sept. 22, 1865-Feb. 8, 1954

Niles Daily Star, Tuesday, February 9, 1954, page 2, col. 2, microfilm Niles District Library

Mrs. Sadie Ames Fritts, 88, of rural route two, Niles, died at 10:30 p.m. Monday at her home following an illness of one and a half years.

Mrs. Fritts was born Sept. 22, 1865, in Detroit and came here from Detroit and Chicago as a young girl. She was a member of the First Baptist Church and the Shakespeare Club here. Her husband, Charles B. Fritts, died Feb. 14, 1931.

Her only survivor is a daughter, Miss Lucille Fritts, teacher in the Niles public school system.

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday in the Kiger Funeral Home with the Rev. Ray L. McCoy, pastor of the First Baptist Church, officiating. Burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery.  Friends may call at the residence this evening and until 11 a.m. Thursday.

Jerry L. Mace
Nov. 18, 1930-Nov. 26, 1997

Niles Daily Star, Friday, November 28, 1997, page 2, col. 1, microfilm Niles District Library

Jerry Mace, Niles civic leader, dies

Funeral services for Jerry L. Mace, 67, 1539 Sheffield Ave., Niles, are Saturday at 3 p.m. , at Wesley United Methodist Church, Niles, by the Rev. Nolan R. Williams of Wesley United Methodist Church. The family will gather privately Tuesday, Dec. 2 at graveside for  committal at Silverbrook Cemetery, Niles.

Mr. Mace died Wednesday , at 5:52 p.m., at Lakeland Medical Center, St. Joseph, following an extended illness. He was born Nov. 18, 1930, in Michigan City, Ind.

On Dec. 29, 1950, at Wesley United Methodist Church, Niles, he married the former Mary Elizabeth Stephenson, who survives.

Mr. Mace retired in 1993 as manager of information services after 15 years at Pawating Hospital, Niles.

He graduated in 1949 from Niles High School and had many years of continuing education in computer science through IBM and other companies.

Mr. Mace was a member of Wesley United Methodist Church, Niles; and a member of the Niles Elks No. 1322; and a 50-year member of an area barber shop quartet association. He was also a member of the Berrien County Republican Committee; served on the City of Niles Parks and Recreation Board; and was an active member of the Plym Park Golf and Course and the former Niles Tennis Club.

Survivors include a daughter, Melinda Susan Inman of Jeffersonville, Ind.; three sons, Michael Lee Mace of Niles, Timothy Scott Mace of Hollywood, Fla., and Randall Jay Mace of Phoenix, Ariz.; and five grandchildren.  He was preceded in death by a sister and three brothers.

Friends may call today from 6 until 8 p.m.at Halbritter Funeral Home, and at the church Saturday, one hour prior to the services. Memorial contributions may be made to Wesley United Methodist Church Air Conditioner Fund.

Robert Mace
May 10, 1926-Dec. 16. 1952

Niles Daily Star, Wednesday, December 17, 1952, page 1, col. 6-7, microfilm Niles District Library

Niles Airman Killed in Georgia Air Crash

A Niles pilot who was a civilian flight instructor for the Air Force was killed in a mid-air crash near the Bainbridge, Ga., Air Force Station Tuesday night while doing a favor for a fellow instructor.

[Robert Mace] was killed while on his last flight before leaving for home on a 10-day holiday vacation.

According to reports received here, two T.E. trainer planes crashed in mid-air while approaching the Bainbridge Field for landing clearance. Another flight instructor [illegible] about 7:30 p.m.

The names of the other victims were not learned but one of the cadets reportedly was a foreign student from Holland.

According to Mace's family here in Niles, Mace was to leave today for a 10-day vacation at home and took an over-night training flight just as a favor to a fellow instructor.

Other reports stated that two planes touched wings in the downwind leg of the landing area at about 800 feet and dropped to earth within 100 yards of each other.  All four occupants were killed instantly.

Mace, a reserve officer in the Air Force, had been a civilian flight instructor at the Bainbridge Station more than a year. Before accepting the position as flight instructor he was employed by the city here.

He was born in Sheridan, Ind., May 10, 1926, and moved to Niles in 1940 where he was an active member of the Elks Lodge and the First Methodist Church.

Surviving are: his wife, Shirley, Bainbridge, also formerly of Niles; a step-son, Jon, Bainbridge; his mother Mrs. Joyce Mace; a sister, Mrs. LeRoy Bartels, Michigan City, Ind., and three brothers, Scott, LaPorte, Ind., George, Lafayette, and Jerry, also Niles.

The body is being returned today to the Pifer Funeral Home here from where funeral arrangements will be announced later.

Niles Daily Star, Thursday, December 18, 1952, page 2, col. 3, microfilm Niles District Library

The body of Robert W. Mace, 26, who was killed in an air crash in Bainbridge, Ga., on Tuesday night, will arrive here Friday.

Friends may call at the Pifer Funeral Home Saturday. The casket will be closed. Services will be conducted at 2 p.m. Monday at the funeral home by the Rev. L. George Beacock, pastor of the First Methodist Church. Burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery.

Mace, who was a civilian flight instructor for the Air Force, stationed at Bainbridge, was a member of Niles Elks, the First Methodist Church, and was a veteran of World War II.

Bessie L. Beal
Aug. 18, 1898-March 29, 1980

Niles Daily Star, Monday, March 31, 1980, page 2, col. 2, microfilm Niles District Library

Bessie L. Beal, 81, of Route 1, Buchanan, died at 6 p.m.  Saturday at the Schato Nursing Home in Dowagiac following an extended illness.

Mrs. Beal was born Aug. 18, 1898, in LeRoy, and came to the Buchanan area from there in 1920. Her husband, the late Joseph Beal, died in 1932.

Mrs. Beal is survived by a son, Richard I. Williams of Buchanan; a sister, Mrs. Jennie Miller of Rice Lake, Wis., three grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Halbritter Funeral Home in Niles with the Rev. James Murphy of the Christian Center, South Bend, officiating. Burial will follow in Silverbrook Cemetery.

Friends may call from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. today at the funeral home.

Dorothy Drotoz
Jan. 24, 1921-Feb. 12, 1990

Niles Daily Star, Wednesday, February 14, 1990, page 2, col. 2, microfilm Niles District Library

Services for Dorothy E. Drotoz, 69, 2037 S. 13th St., Niles, will be 11 a.m.m Friday at the Halbritter Funeral Home by Pastor Paul W.W. Green of Westminster Presbyterian Church.

Mrs. Drotoz was born Jan. 24, 1921, in Spangler, Penn. On June 28, 1943, in Waycross, Ga., she married Steve Drotoz, who preceded her in death Nov. 7, 1987.

A son, Steve Drotoz, also preceded her in death, Nov. 11, 1967.

She had lived in Niles since 1951, coming from Pennsylvania.  She was retired from Peel's Supermarket.  She died Monday at 11 p.m. in her home.

Survivors include a daughter, Helen Drotoz, and a son, Bill, Drotoz, both of Niels; two sisters, Jennie Peel and Helen Vella, both of Niles; and two brothers, Leon Butterworth and Harold Butterworth, boh of Niles and five grandchildren.

Burial will take place in Silverbrook Cemetery, Niles. Friends may call from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday at the Halbritter Funeral Home.

Memorial contributions may be made to Niles Babe Ruth or F.O.P. baseball.

Steve Drotoz
Feb. 20, 1921-Nov. 7, 1987


Niles Daily Star, Monday, November 9, 1987, page 2, col. 2, microfilm Niles District Library

Steve Drotoz, 66, 2119 Spansail Drive, Niles died Saturday at 8:20 p.m., at St. Joseph's Medical Center in South Bend, Ind. following a brief illness.

He was born Feb. 20, 1921, in Twin Rocks, Pa. and lived in this area since 1950.  He was a World War II veteran, having served in the U.S. Army Air Force and was a retired employee of the Torrington Co.

He married the former Dorothy E. Butterworth June 28, 1943 in Waycross, Ga. She survives.

Other survivors include a son, Bill of Niles; a daughter, Helen of Niles; a brother, William of Detroit; three sisters, Margaret McNamara of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., Helen Hanson of Ocala, Fla. and Ann Dadio of Brooklyn, N.Y., and five grandchildren.  A son, Steven, died Nov. 11, 1967.

Services are Tuesday at 2 p.m. at the Halbritter Funeral Home, where Rev. David Henderson, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Niles, will officiate. Burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery, Niles.

Friends may call today from 6 to 9 .m. at the funeral home.

Memorials may be made to the F.O.P. Little League Baseball.