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.

Thornton, Pauline R. (Lillie) 1915-2007

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Pauline R. Thornton
April 10, 1915-Jan. 30, 2007

Niles Daily Star (Niles, Berrien Co., MI) Thursday, February 1, 2007, page 2, col. 1-2

Pauline R. Thornton, 91, of Cass Street, Niles, died at 9:20 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2007, at Cass County Medical Care Facility, Cassopolis, Following an illness.

Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Feb 3, at Halbritter Funeral Home, Niles, with Rev. Cindy L. Van Parys, chaplain of Lakeland Community Hospital, officiating.

Friends may call from 5 p.m. To 8 p.m. Friday at the funeral home.

She was born April 10, 1915, in Jackson to Curtis Lillie and Freda Walters.

She lived in Niles most of her life.

She attended Saint John's United church of Christ in Niles, and enjoyed playing bridge and camping.

On June 17, 1939, she married ward Thornton, who died on July 31 1831.

She was preceded in death by her husband; three brothers, Robert Lillie, Richard Lillie and William Lillie; a sister, Dorothea Smallwood; a son-in-law, Fred

Huffman; a grandson, Ronald Wagley; and a granddaughter, Lisa Huffman.

She is survived by three daughters, Jo Anne (James) Wagley, of Niles, Wanda Huffman, of Niles, and Judith Plevin of Fort Myers, Fla.; two Sons, Robert (Rose Marie) Thornton of Sante Fe, N.N., and Michael (Karen) Thornton of Niles; eight grandchildren, 11 great-grandsons and two great-granddaughters.

Memorial contributions may be made to the organization of the donor' choice.

Arrangements were by Halbritter Funeral Home, Niles.

 

 

 

 

 

Tyson, George W. 1867-1961

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George W. Tyson
Nov. 8, 1867-May 18, 1961

The Niles Daily Star (Niles, Berrien Co., MI), Friday, May 19, 1961, page 2, col. 6

George Washington Tyson, 93, 62 Marmont St., Died at 12:55 p.m. Thursday in Pawating Hospital where he had been a patient for one day. He had been in Failing health for seven months.

Mr. Tyson, a retired installer for the Kawneer Co., where he had worked for 23 years, was born Nov. 8, 1867, in Bucks County, Pa., and came to Niles in 1920 from Trenton, N.J. He had retired from Kawneer in 1943.

Surviving are: his widow, Fern; two step-children, Maurice Shepherdson, Benton Harbor; and Mrs. Mildred Anderson, Kalamazoo; six grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, and a sister, Mrs. Josephine Jenks, Trenton, N.J.

Funeral services will be held at 2:30 p.m., Saturday in the Pifer Funeral Home with the Rev. John G. Carlton, rector of Trinity Episcopal Church, officiating. Burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery.

Friends are being received at the funeral home.

 

 

Zimmerman, Marie 1887-1961

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Marie Zimmerman
April 11, 1887-May 18, 1961

Niles Daily Star (Niles, Berrien Co., MI) Friday, May 19, 1961, page 2, col. 6

Mrs. Marie Zimmerman, 74, 614 Cass St., died at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the Berrien County Hospital, Berrien Center, following an illness of one month.

Mrs. Zimmerman was born April 11, 1887, in Neodsha, Kan., and came to Niles in 1936 from Iowa City, Iowa. Her husband, Alfred D. Zimmerman, died Oct. 4, 1937.

Surviving are: two sons, Elmer Zimmerman, Phoenix, Ariz., and George Zimmerman, Iowa City, Iowa.

Committal services will be held at 2 pm. Saturday Cemetery with Dr. Maurice McKean, pastor of First Methodist Church of which she had been a member officiating.

Friends are being received at the Kiger and Halbritter Funeral Home.

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Lewis, Elmer A. 1902-1993

editor Obituaries

ELMER A. LEWIS
May 8, 1902 – Dec. 23, 1993

Niles Daily Star (Niles, Berrien Co., MI) Friday, Dec. 24, 1993, pg. 2.

NILES – Elmer A. Lewis, 91, of 222 N. 13th St., died at 9:30 AM Thursday at Pawating Hospital after an illness. Mr. Lewis retired after 46 years with National Standard. He was born May 8, 1902, in Rosedale, Ind., living in Niles since 1918. In 1922 in St. Joseph, he married Gladys Siebert. She died Oct. 22, 1985. On Sept. 25, 1988, in Niles he married Mildred I Prather Taylor Lewis. She survives with a daughter, Betty Runnels of Niles; two grandchildren; two great- grandchildren; three sisters, Elizabeth Marrs of Talahomam, Tenn., Helen Davidson and Carrie Jane Shoemaker, both of Buchanan; and two brothers, Charles of Niles and Albert of Rockville, Ind.

There will be no services or visitation. Burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to American Heart Association.

Blackburn, Troy Allen 1970-1993

editor Obituaries

Troy Allen Blackburn
July 23, 1970-Nov. 12, 1993

Niles Daily Star (Niles, Berrien Co., MI) Saturday, November 20, 1993; page 2 col. 2,microfilm, Niles District Library

Troy Allen Blackburn, 23, of Wartburg, Tenn., died there on Nov. 12 in an automobile accident.Blackburn was born in Niles on July 23, 1970 to mother Carol J. Blackburn of Wartburg, Tenn., who survives and the late Jimmy A. Blackburn of Niles.

Other survivors include his grandmothers, Pearl Phillips of Devonia, Tenn., and Wilma J. Blackburn of Niles; and two brothers, Kevin Blackburn of Niles and Neil Blackburn of Wartburg, Tenn.

Blackburn, Jimmie A. 1942-1982

editor Obituaries

Jimmie A. Blackburn
Dec. 4, 1942-July 11, 1982

Niles Daily Star, Monday, July 12, 1982; page 2, col. 5, cont. col. 6 &7, microfilm, Niles District

Jimmie A. Blackburn, 39, of 2773 Hoyt Drive, Niles, died on Sunday at 4:46 a.m. in Memorial Hospital, South Bend, IN., after an illness which began in 1978.

Born on Dec. 4, 1942, in Niles, he had been a resident of this area most of his life. He was a Vietnam Army veteran and retired in 1975 as a maintenance mechanic from Tyler Refrigeration Corporation.

He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. James C. Blackburn of Niles, who survive. On July 16, 1966, he married Carol Phillips in De Vona, TN., who survives. Three sons, Kevin, Neil and Troy also survive.  A brother, Ronald Joe Blackburn of New Paris, IN., and two sisters, Mrs. Sandra Walter of Niles, and Miss Susan Blackburn of Houston, TX., also survive.

He was a member of the Huntly Memorial Baptist Church and was affiliated with the Southwestern Michigan Football Clinic.

Services will take place at Huntly Memorial Baptist Church on Wednesday, July 14, at 1:30 p.m. with Rev. Donald Hall officiating with Ronald Smith of Niles.

Friends may call after 4 p.m. on Tuesday at the PiferSmith Funeral Home in Niles. Burial will be at Silverbrook Cemetery. Military rites will be conducted by LaRue Messenger Post 26, American Legion, of Niles. Memorials may be made to Huntly Memorial Baptist Church and Southwestern Michigan Football Clinic.

Klopfenstein, Margaret F. 1905-1992

editor Obituaries

MARGARET F. KLOPFENSTEIN
April 12, 1905 – June 22, 1992

Niles Daily Star (Niles, Berrien Co, MI), Tuesday, June 23, 1992, pg. 2.

NILES – Margaret F. Klopfenstein, 87, of 1211 Stateline Road, died at 12:55 PM Monday in Woodfield Manor Nursing Home. Mrs. Klopfenstein retired in 1971 from Simplicity Pattern Co. She was born April 12, 1905 in Niles and had been a lifetime area resident. On June 24, 1922, in Niles, she married Herman Klopfenstein. He died on Oct. 31, 1961. She is survived by four daughters, Ruth F. Brown, Donna Haase, Patsy Maynard and Charlotte Matthews, all of Niles; 13 grandchildren; 19 great-grandchildren; three great-great-grandchildren; and a sister, Mabel Lewis of Nikishka, Alaska. Three sons, Clayton, Gordon and Dale, preceded her in Death. Mrs. Klopfenstein was a member of the Brandywine and Niles-Buchanan Senior Citizens.

Services will be at 10:30 AM Thursday at Pifer-Smith Funeral Home. Burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery. Friends may call from 4 to 8 PM Wednesday at the funeral home.

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