Frederick Robert Eaglesfield
May 4, 1883-October 2, 1961


    Frederick Robert Eaglesfield, 78, 820 Topinabee Road, retired vice president of the Kawneer Co., died at 3:40 pm. Monday in Pawating Hospital. He had been in failing health for three and a half years and a hospital patient for one day.
    A native of Niles, he was born May 4, 1883, and had served his community in many capacities, as a Boy Scout leader, officer of the Cancer Society and chairman of the Park Board.
    His 36 years of service at the Kawneer Co., began Oct. 1, 1912. He retired on June 1, 1948, as a vice presdent and director. His business career also saw associations with the National Leather Co., and the former Niles City Bank, each for five years.
    Mr. Eaglesfield had been active for many years in the Southwestern Michigan Boy Scout Council program, having served as council president from 1947 to 1951 and for a number of years as an executive board member.  He also was a council representative on the National Council for eight years, and had been instrumental in development of Camp Madron during the early 1950's.
    In 1952, the council bestowed on him the highest honor given a volunteer for service to youth, the Silver Beaver Award.
    His services to the Scouting program also brought him the distinction of being the only den grandfather in national Scouting.
    In other phases of his community life, Mrs.[sic] Eaglesfield was a member of Trinity Episcopal Church, a life member of St. Joseph Valley Lodge No. 4, F& AM, member of DeWitt Clinton Consistory, 32nd degree, member  of Saladin Temple of Grand Rapids, life member of Niles Commandery No. 12, Knights Templar, member of St. Vincent Conclave No. 33, Red Cross of Constantine, honorary member of the Niles Rotary Club, life member of the Niles Elks Lodge, member of the 25-year Club of Kawneer and a charter member of the Pickwick Club.  He also had been a member of Orchard Hills Country Club.
    During his career at Kawneer Co., Mr. Eaglesfield was named company secretary in 1917, secretary and sales manager in 1918, vice president in charge of sales in 1972[sic], vice president in charge of purchasing in 1934, and vice president in charge of engineering sales in 1936.  He held the latter post until his retirement in 1948.
    He was a director of the firm from 1918 through 1949, a year after his retirement.
    On Sept. 6, 1905, he was married in Niles, to the former Miss Kathryn Winter, who survives.
    Also surviving are: two daughters, Mrs. John W. Strayer, 553 Grant St., and Mrs. Roger L. Thompson, Westport, Conn., and five grandchildren.
    Funeral services will be at 10:30 a.m. Thursday in Trinity Episcopal Church with the rector, Rev. John G. Carlton, officiating.  Burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery.
    Friends are being received at the Kiger and Halbritter Funeral Home.

(Source: Niles Daily Star, Tuesday, October 3, 1961, page 2, col. 1-2, microfilm Niles District Library)

Roy A. Cody
Nov. 2, 1885-March 7, 1953

Niles Daily Star, Saturday, March 7, 1953, page 2, col. 1, microfilm Niles District Library

    Roy A. Cody, 515 Nieb Court, died suddenly this morning in a down town store. He had been in the store only a short time when he collapsed.
    Cody had been been a school guard for the Niles Police Department.  His brother, Russ, is a Niles policeman.   
   
Niles Daily Star, Monday, March 9, 1953, page 2, col. 5, microfilm Niles District Library   

    Roy A. Cody, 515 Nieb court, died at 10:30 a.m. Saturday on arrival at Pawating Hospital.  He was a brother of Russell Cody, a member of the Niles Police Force.
    Surviving are his wife, Charlotte; one daughter, Mrs. Wade Titus, Kalamazoo; two sons, Jack and William Cody, of Niles; three grandchildren, his one brother, Russell, of Niles, and four sisters, Mrs. George Johnson, Jacksonville, Fla., Mrs. James Brewer, of Forget, Saskatchewan, Canada, Mrs. Roy Wiest and Mrs. Ruth Richardson, both of Niles.
    Cody was born on Nov. 2, 1885, in Midland, and came here from Wolf Point, Mont., 27 years ago.  He was retired from the New York Central Railroad Company as a machinist's helper.
    Friends may call at the Pifer Funeral Home, where services will be conducted at 4 p.m. Tuesday by the Rev. T.M. Greenhoe, Presbyterian pastor.  Burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery.

Emily Coolidge Chapin
1849-1925

Niles Daily Star, Wednesday, March 25, 1925, page 4, col. 1, microfilm Niles District Library

    Misses Claudine and Orril Coolidge will go to Chicago tomorrow to attend the funeral services for their aunt, Mrs. Emily Chapin, at the home of Lowell M. Chapin, a son of the deceased, and will accompany the funeral party to Niles.

Niles Daily Star, Thursday, March 26, 1925, page 1, col. 2, microfilm Niles District Library

 

    Funeral services for Mrs. Emily Chapin, widow of Charles A. Chapin, who died in Pasadena, Calif., on March 21, were held at the home of her son, Lowell M. Chapin, in Chicago this morning.  Dr. James A.K. McClure, president of the McCormick seminary, and for many years a friend of the deceased, conducted the service.  The funeral party left Chicago with the body in a special car immediately after the service for Niles, arriving here at 2:40 o'clock this afternoon.
    The body was taken directly to Silver Brook cemetery where Rev. H.T. Scherer, pastor of the Chapin Memorial Presbyterian church, conducted the committal services.

    Emily Coolidge Chapin was born in Edwardsburg, Cass county, in 1849. She died at Pasadena, Calif., on March 21, 1925.  She was one of the daughters of Judge Henry H. Coolidge.  She attended the Niles public schools, and completed her education at the Kalamazoo Seminary in Kalamazoo, graduating from that institution in 1869, after specializing in study of vocal and instrumental music.  In 1873 she was married in Niles to Charles A. Chapin, a prominent resident of this city.
    During her residence in Niles, Mrs. Chapin was an active member of the Presbyterian church and was for many years a teacher in the Sunday school.  She was a member of the Ladies Reading club and active in the musical and social circles of the city.
    In 1898 the family moved to Chicago and she had since resided there.
    In her tastes Mrs. Chapin was literary and artistic, appreciating the best in literature and music. Throughout her life she retained her love for music, and was enthusiastic in promoting musical (Continued on Page 8) activities.  In her youth she possessed a beautiful high soprano voice and sang with intelligence and artistic finish.  As a young woman in Niles she sang at different times in both the Presbyterian and Episcopal church choirs.  In Chicago she was interested in supporting the Chicago Symphony orchestra and the Chicago Civic opera.  She was active in the work of the Fourth Presbyterian church, the Chicago Half Orphan asylum, the Glenwood Boys' home, a liberal supporter of missions and of the Chicago Y.M.C.A.  She was a member of the Colonial Dames, of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and of L'Alliance Francaise.
    She erected the Edwardsburg Presbyterian church as a memorial to her father.  She devoted not only a great deal of money to church and philanthropic enterprises but gave of her time to these interests in large measure a strong Christian faith and joy in Christian service finding expression in these ways.  In disposition she was sweet and lovable, unassuming, and with a kindly attitude toward everyone with whom she came in contact.  A long life of usefulness and service is ended with her passing, and her death is mourned by many.
    Mrs. Chapin was the mother of eight children of whom seven are living as follows:   Homer C., Henry K., Charles D. and Lowell M. and Mrs. William Smith, of Chicago; Mrs. Paul Pitner and Mrs. Jerome Bishop Jr., of Pasadena, Calif.

Niles Daily Star, Thursday, March 26, 1925, page 4, col. 1, microfilm Niles District Library


    Rev. Benjamin Jones, the pastor, and the trustees of the Presbyterian church at Edwardsburg, attended the committal services here today for the late Mrs. Emily Chapin. The church at Edwardsburg was a gift of Mrs. Chapin in memory of her father, Judge Henry H. Coolidge.

Carrie B. (Ives) Schmidt
October 3, 1862-March 25, 1925


    Sadness was brought to many in Niles today by announcement of the death this morning at 10 :45 o'clock of Mrs. Carrie B. Schmidt, wife of F.C. Schmidt, at her home,  298 Broadway.  Mrs. Schmidt had been in ill health from heart disease and diabetes for a number of months, but her condition had not been serious only within the last 10 days, although hope for her recovery was entertained until last evening.
    Mrs. Schmidt was born in Hillsdale, Mich., on October 3, 1862, and was a daughter of Edwin B. and Elmira Brooks Ives.  Her family moved to Niles a few years later, and Mr. Ives for many years or until his death engaged in the photograph business here. Mrs. Schmidt was married in Niles to Frederick B. [sic] Schmidt who until his retirement a few years ago engaged in the retail meat business.
    Besides her husband, Mrs. Schmidt is survived by the following children: Dr. Harry B. Schmidt, Detroit; Karl B. Schmidt, Niles; Mrs. Bion R. East, Detroit; Mrs. Donald A. Noble, Detroit, Mrs. George I. Vetter, Niles, and Miss Carribel Schmidt, Niles.
    For more than 25 years the Schmidt family home has been at Third street and Broadway, and the graciousness and hospitality of Mrs. Schmidt will long be remembered.  She was of a kindly and charitable disposition, and much beloved by old and young alike.
    The funeral services will be held Friday afternoon at 2 o'clock at the home, and will be private.  Burial will take place in Silver Brook cemetery.
    The family requests that flowers be omitted.

(Niles Daily Star, Wednesday, March 25, 1925, page 1, col. 4, microfilm Niles District Library)

George H. Bates
September 14, 1870-March 6, 1953

    George H. Bates, 1702 North Twelfth street, died Friday morning at Pawating Hospital after a lengthy illness.
    A bachelor, Bates is survived by one sister, Mrs. Lena Thurston, Niles; one nephew, George Thurston, Niles, and one niece, Mrs. Stewart Purinton, River Forest, Ill.
    Bates was born on Sept. 14, 1870, in Niles, and had lived here all his life. He was retired from the New York Central Railroad Company.
    Friends may call at the residence until 12 noon on Tuesday, when the body will be taken to the Pifer Funeral Home for services at 2 p.m.  The Rev. H.A. Meussling, pastor of St. John's Evangelical and Reformed Church, will officiate, and burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetry.

(Source: Niles Daily Star, Saturday, March 7, 1953, page 2, col. 1, microfilm Niles District Library)

Mrs. E. Grace Smith
April 15, 1883-March 8, 1953

    Mrs. Grace Smith, 731 Hickory street, died at 11:30 p.m. Sunday in Pawating Hospital. She was the wife of Ben H. Smith, vice president of Michigan Wire Goods, Inc., here.
    Surviving besides her husband are two sons, Mahlon, of Niles, and Roland Smith, of New Orleans, La.; one daughter, Mrs. Dale Apt, South Bend, and two grandchildren.
    Mrs. Smith, who was born on April 15,1883, in Sherwood, Mich., came here from Three Rivers in 1903.  She was a member of the First Methodist church, Fort St. Joseph Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution, a charter member of the Niles Musical Club, and a member of the Monday Reading Club and of the Methodist Berean Class.
    Friends may call at the Pifer Funeral Home.  Services will be conducted by the Rev. L. George Beacock, Methodist pastor, at 2 p.m. Wednesday, the place to be announced later.  Burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery.

(Source: Niles Daily Star, Monday, March 9, 1953, page 2, col. 5, microfilm Niles District Library)