John F. Grant, Sr., 73
Dec. 25, 1938-Nov. 4, 2012

Niles Daily Star, Published online 5:09pm Monday, November 5, 2012

Grant, Sr.

John F. Grant, Sr., age 73 years of Niles, Mich., died at 1:55 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012 at Kindred Hospital Northern Indiana in Mishawaka following a brief illness.

He was born on Dec. 25, 1938 in Springfield, Ohio to Howard and Viola (Ashing) Grant.  He graduated from Niles High School, and lived here most of his life.  He served in the United States Army, and was stationed in Korea.  He was employed at Modineer, and at the former Tyler Refrigeration and Nyloncraft.

John was a member of the American Legion Post 26 in Niles.  He was a vocalist and drummer for several area bands.  He enjoyed expanding his intellect through science journals, word puzzles, and challenging repairs in his home shop.  He is best remembered for his sense of humor.

On July 26, 1963 in Niles he married the former Mary Ellen Fisher with whom he had celebrated the forty-ninth anniversary of their marriage.

Surviving family includes his wife, Mary Ellen Grant, and their children, Fran (& Walter) Ludwig, John (& Emily) Grant, Jr., and Julie (& Joe) Hess, all of Niles and Vicki (& Jeff) Winslett of Galien, Mich., and Kimberly (& Russell) Schermerhorn of Milford, Pa.; grandchildren, Chris Ludwig, Lauren Ludwig, Allison Grant, Joey Hess, Derek Hess, Abigail Hess, Jessica Winslett, Joshua Winslett, Jordan Winslett, Jenna Winslett, and Steven Schermerhorn; great-granddaughter, Kyleigh Hayes; and John’s sister, Gertrude (& William Meyers of Niles, and brother, William H. Grant of Eau Claire, Mich., and many nieces and nephews.

The funeral service for John F. Grant will be at 11 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 8, 2012 at the Halbritter Funeral Home in Niles.  Committal will follow at Silverbrook Cemetery in Niles and will conclude with Full Military Honors by American Legion Post 26 in Niles.

The family will receive relatives and friends on Wednesday from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. at the funeral home.  Contributions in memory of John may be made to the donor’s choice.

Kathleen M. Engberg, 88
July 23, 1924-Oct. 31, 2012

Niles Daily Star, Published 3:30pm Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Kathleen M. Engberg, age 88 years of Colony Court in Niles, Mich., died at 1:55 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2012 at the Buchanan Meadows Living Center, Buchanan, Mich., following an extended illness.

She was born on July 23, 1924 in Middletown, Ohio to Lawrence and Blanche (Holloway) Hannah.  She was graduated from high school in Middletown, and employed at the former Sorg Paper Company (now Bay West division of Wausau Papers) in Middletown.  She has lived in Niles since January of 1960.

Kathleen was a member of Wesley United Methodist Church in Niles.  She was a sustaining member of the Niles Service League, and a member of the Monday Reading Club.  She always enjoyed helping others, including volunteering with the Pawating Auxiliary of Lakeland Community Hospital, and as a young mother, volunteering with the Girl Scouts of America as an adult leader of the local Brownies.  She also enjoyed walking outdoors.

On October 13, 1951 in Middletown she married Rudolph A. “Rudy” Engberg with whom she celebrated the 51st anniversary of their wedding prior to his death on Jan. 9, 2003.  She was also preceded in death by her parents, and by her brothers, Wilbur and William Hannah, who were twins.

Surviving family includes a daughter, Susan (& Dave) Majerek of Niles; grandsons David Majerek, Scott Majerek, and Chad Majerek; and several nieces and nephews.

The funeral service for Kathleen M. Engberg will be at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 1, 2012 at the Halbritter Funeral Home in Niles with the Rev. Edward H. Slate of Faith United Methodist Church in Buchanan officiating.  Committal Services will be at the Graveside at Silverbrook Cemetery in Niles at 11 a.m. on Friday.

The family will receive relatives and friends from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. on Thursday at the funeral home.  Contributions in memory of Kathleen may be made to Hospice at Home.

Francis J. Plym
Sept. 16, 1869-Jan. 12, 1940

Niles Daily Star, Friday, January 12, 1940, page 1, col. 7, microfilm Niles District Library

F.J. PLYM, INDUSTRIALIST, DEAD

BULLETIN

Business Leader,

Philanthropist,

Stricken Today

Francis J. Plym, Niles industrialist, philanthropist and president of the Kawneer company and Star Publishing company, died at 3:15 this afternoon.

Mr. Plym had been ill about ten days and had apparently been improving, when death struck suddenly.

Mr. Plym was 70 years old last September. Active to the last he had continued his executive work at the Kawneer plant, had carried on his daily routine of exercise, work and recreation until his most recent illness.

In doing so he had carried out his own theories that work was the all-enduring release from boredom and a means of remaining perpetually young.

News of his death came as a staggering blow to his family, his close friends and hundreds who have been associated with him in business and social contacts.

His interests were varied. Architecture was his profession and remained an absorbing interest even after he had left the profession to enter the industrial field.

Honors have come to him in professional, educational and other lines of service.  He was knighted in 1938 for his efforts in directing the American-Swedish Tercentenary, an honor conferred upon him by the king of Sweden.

His passing came after a pleasant holiday season with his family, four of whom survive--Mrs. Plym, his son, Lawrence, and two daughters, Mrs. Jack Troup and Mrs. George Grimes.

Arrangements for the funeral are incomplete.

Jennie B. Plym
May 7, 1874-July 11, 1970

Niles Daily Star, Monday, July 13, 1970, page 1, col. 1&2, microfilm Niles District Library

Mrs. F.J. Plym, Niles benefactor, is buried today

Niles--Funeral services were held in Niles' First Presbyterian Church this afternoon for Mrs. Francis J. (Jennie B.) Plym, 96, who died early Saturday morning in her home on Topinabee Road after several years of failing health. The service was conducted by the Rev. Donald E. Gordon, associate minister.

Mrs.  Plym was recognized as an authority on Niles and area history and had collaborated with the late Mr. and Mrs. Ballard in publishing several books describing early Niles history, copies of which are at the Niles Historical Assn. and Niles Library.

She was also an avid collector of books pertaining to early American history and the expeditions of such explorers as Father Marquette, Charlevoix and others in the St. Joseph River and Great Lakes areas. An extensive collection of such volumes, including several by French historians, was donated to the Niles Library several years ago by Mrs. Plym.

Mrs. Plym's keen interest in literature prompted her  to donate to the city a new library in 1961. Of modern design, it is located at Main and Seventh Street, and replaced the Andrew Carnegie library on North Fourth Street which had long before outgrown its limited space.

Other interests of the deceased included work as an amateur botanist and ornothologist.  From the window of her home on the St. Joseph  River, Mrs. Plym spent many hours with field glasses watching and identifying many of the rare species of birds, which had their habitat in the area, which lead to her close interest in Fernwood.

She also had a keen interest in Indian lore, shared with her late husband, that resulted in an extensive collection of Sioux Indian artifacts.  Prior to his death in 1940, the collection was donated to the Fort St. Joseph Museum and is believed to be one of the finest of its kind in existence.

Mrs. Plym, the former Jennie Barber, was born May 7, 1874, in Rantoul, Ill. and spent her elementary and high school days in Holdrege, Neb. She graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1898, where she was a member of Pi Beta Phi Sorority.

About the time of her graduation, the Barber family moved to Lincoln, Neb., where she met and married, on March 10, 1903, Francis J. Plym, a young architect getting his start in that city.

Shortly thereafter, the couple moved to Kansas City,Mo., where Mr. Plym continued his work as an architect and where he developed and patented a greatly improved method for the setting of plate glass windows.  Their only son, Lawrence, was born while they lived in Kansas City.

While on a trip to Michigan in search of a plant site, Mr. Plym stayed overnight in Niles and liked the city so well he decided not to look further.

The original site of Mr. Plym's factory was the present location of the Kawneer Co. plant on North Front Street. The firm grew rapidly and, as it prospered, the Plyms shared their benefits with the community.

On of the early family gifts to Niles was a 67-acre tract which included Plym Park Golf Course, playground and athletic field. Because the city had no hospital, the Plyms purchased, in 1925, the Dresden home on St. Joseph Avenue, known as "Castle Rest," and remodeled it into a hospital. It was announced on Dec. 24, 1925, as a Christmas gift to the city and remained as one of the family's favorite charities.

In addition to widespread philanthropics in the Niles area, gifts included the Senior Citizens' Home in Mr. Plym's home parish in Backaby, Sweden. Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill., and Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas, as well as an endowed room of the John Morton Building in Philadelphia, a building erected by persons of Swedish ancestry to commemorate the landing of Swedish peoples in Delaware in 1638.

They also founded the Plym Fellowships in Architecture and Architectural Engineering at the University of Illinois, from which Mr. Plym graduated, to allow recipients a year of study and research abroad in their chosen fields.

Because of his interest in Swedish American affairs, Mr. Plym was appointed as chairman of the Swedish-American tercentenary observance held in the 1930s and was later cited for his work by the king of Sweden, who decorated him with his country's Order of Vasa.

Over the years, Mrs. Plym's interests included the Women's Progressive League and Ladies Historical Society. She was a charter member of the Niles Garden Club and Niles College Club, later called the American Association of University Women. She was a member of the First Presbyterian Church and, at one time, superintendent of its Primary Department.

Survivors include a son, Lawrence, of Niles, a daughter, Mrs. Marian Troup, of San Marino, Calif.; 10 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.  Another daughter, Mrs. Helen Plym Grimes, died several years ago.

Interment was in Silverbrook cemetery.

The family has requested that memorials be sent to Niles Public Library, Pawating Hospital, First Presbyterian Church or Fernwood, Inc.

Lawrence J. Plym
June 28, 1906-March 12, 1993

Niles Daily Star, Saturday, March 13, 1993, page 1, col. 8, microfilm Niles District Library

Niles' benefactor Lawrence Plym dies

Niles--Niles philanthropist Lawrence J. Plym, who was president of The Kawneer Co. in Niles and a former president and publisher of the Niles Daily Star, passed away Friday afternoon.

Plym died at 2:45 p.m. in Delray Beach, Fla.

Funeral arrangements are incomplete at Halbritter Funeral Home in Niles.

A complete obituary will publish Monday in the Niles Daily Star.

Niles Daily Star, Monday, March 15, 1993, page 1, col. 1-8, microfilm Niles District Library

A Niles era ends: L.J. Plym dies at 86

NILES--Niles' benefactor, Lawrence J. Plym 86, died Friday at about 2:45 p.m in Delray Beach, Fla., after a six-month illness.

Plym, of 1660 Signal Point Drive, Niles, made his winter home in Delray Beach.

A memorial service for Plym is planned for Thursday at 11 a.m. at the Delray Beach Presbyterian Church.

Memorial services will be held in Niles on Tuesday, March 23, at 11:30 a.m. at the First Presbyterian Church.

Plym, a manufacturing executive, newspaper publisher and philanthropist, was born in Kansas City, Mo., on July 28, 1906, to Francis J. and Jane Barber Plym.

Francis J. Plym, as an architect, moved his family to Niles in December 1906.

Lawrence attended Niles High School, Lake Forest Academy and the University of Illinois before earning his degree from Babson College in 1929.

His father, Francis J., was a 1897 graduate of the University of Illinois, where he earned a degree in architecture. The elder Plym established the Plym Travelling Fellowship in Architecture at the University of Illinois.

His grandfather, H.O. Barber, was a member of the first class of the University of Illinois.

On Nov. 28, 1933, in South Bend, Ind., he married Mary P. Lippincott, a native of Flint. She preceded him in death on Aug. 31, 1981.

Plym is survived by three children, Sarah Plym Campbell of Niles, John Eric Plym of Vero Beach, Fla., and Andrew Joseph Plym of Niles; nine grandchildren; one great-grandchild; and a sister, Marion Troup of California.

Plym held the presidency of many companies, including the Kawneer Co. of Niles from 1940 to 1962, which is now merged with Amax Inc.; The Plym Company; Niles Broadcasting Co.; and the Star Publishing Co., which at one time published the Niles Daily Star.

Plym was a vice president of Amax Inc. of Greenwich, Conn., until his retirement in 1979.

He also held many board positions, including service on the First National Bank of Southwestern Michigan for a number of years.

A trustee of Lake Forest Academy, Plym is a member of Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity and was active in numerous clubs in the city of Chicago, including the Chicago Club, Glen View club, and the Old Elm Club.

Plym was a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Niles.

In 1957, Plym built the Delray Beach Yacht Club in Florida. In 1963, he built the Signal Point Club in Niles. He was also instrumental in the establishment of the Pickwick Club in Niles.

Plym was known for his commitment to philanthropy in education. He established the Plym Distinguished Professorship in Architecture in 1983 at the University of Illinois, including two traveling fellowships.

He also established Plym Foundation Scholarships at Niles High School.

Augustana, Babson, Bethany and Hillsdale Colleges, along with the University of Notre Dame, were recipients of his gifts.

In Florida, Plym was a member of the Gulf Stream Golf Club, the Country Club of Florida and the Gulf Stream Bath and Tennis Club, all of Delray Beach.

In 1983, Plym was awarded the Babson Medal for Distinguished Leadership, Bason College.

In 1989, Plym received an honorary doctorate in business administration from Hillsdale College.

Plym was honored by Fernwood Botanic Garden, a non-profit community education facility in September 1992, when he established the Lawrence J. Plym Endowment for Education.

Plym purchased Fernwood in 1964. His wife, Mary, served as Fernwood's chairman of the board until her death in August 1981.

Her vision was to establish the property known in Buchanan as Fernwood as a nature and garden preserve.

With Mrs. Plym's leadership, Fernwood was opened to the community in the spring of 1965. Today, more than 1,200 are members at Fernwood and its annual visitation tops 10,000.

Also in 1992, he received the Swedish government's Order of the Polar Star. Plym was a member of the board of directors of the Swedish Council of America for 15 years and the council's Royal Round Table. At Augustana College, Plym established an endowment in support of Swedish American history studies through the Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center. The award was presented by Lave Johnson, the Swedish Consul General, on behalf of King Carl IV of Sweden.

Halbritter Funeral Home in Niles is in charge of arrangements.

Memorial contributions may be made to Pawating Hospital in Niles; Niles Community Library and Fernwood's L.J. Plym Endowment for Education.

Mary P. Plym
Oct. 1, 1906-Aug. 31, 1981

Niles Daily Star, Tuesday, September 1, 1981, page 1, col. 6-7, microfilm Niles District Library

Death takes Mary P. Plym

Mrs. Mary P. Plym, 74, of 1660 Signal Point Dr., Niles, who was an active participant in many organizations in the area, died Monday at 11:45 a.m. in her home after an extended illness.

Mrs. Plym was a 1928 graduate of Goucher College, Baltimore, Md. and was a member of the First Presbyterian Church, Niles, the Pawating Hospital Women's Auxiliary, the Niles Garden Club, the Ladies Historical Society and was a life member of the Federated Garden Clubs of Michigan.

She was the original patron of Fernwood Inc. and former chairman of the board, a former member of the board at Pawating Hospital, a former member of the Niles Service League and a former member of the South Bend Junior League.

Mrs. Plym was born Oct. 1, 1906 in Flint and came to Niles in 1933 from South Bend. She was married on Nov. 28, 1933 in South Bend to Lawrence J. Plym, who survives.

Also surviving are two sons, J. Eric of Vero Beach, Fla. and Andrew J. of Niles; one daughter, Mrs. Murray (Sarah) Campbell of Niles; one sister, Mrs. Samuel (Margaret) Emmons of Ponte Vedra, Fl. and nine grandchildren.

Memorial services will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the First Presbyterian Church, Niles. Rev. William J. Fuersteneau of the First Presbyterian Church will officiate.

There will be no visitation and all arrangements are being handled by Halbritter Funeral Home.

Memorials may be made to Fernwood, Inc.