Obituaries

Mary McGinley 
April 21, 1858-Aug. 10, 1935

Niles Daily Star, Monday, August 12, 1935, page 2, col. 1, microfilm Niles District Library

Niles News In Brief:  MRS. McGINLEY STRICKEN

Mrs. Mary McGinley, 77, died at her home south of Niles on Brandywine creek Saturday afternoon after a long illness.  She leaves her husband, Samuel; one son and one daughter, Frank Clark, Cleveland, and Mrs. Marie Christiansen, Louisville, Ky.; two brothers, Jacob, Miller, Coloma; Harry Miller, Benton Harbor, and two sisters, Mrs. Amelia Edinbrough, Benton Harbor, and Mrs. Minnie Rowell, Milburn, Mich. Services will be held at the Price and Kiger funeral home Tuesday afternoon at 2 o'clock and burial will be in Silverbrook cemetery.  Friends may call at the Price and Kiger funeral home until the hour of the services.

Note: DOB/Maiden Name from Michigan Death record

Alwin C. Opfel
Dec. 29, 1864-June 2, 1935

Niles Daily Star, Monday, June 3, 1935, page 2, col. 6, microfilm Niles District Library

FORMER RESIDENT OF NILES STRICKEN

Alwin C. Opfel, 71, Dies Sunday at Home in South Bend.

Alwin C. Opfel, former resident of Niles and for 27 years a resident of Berrien county, died Sunday night at his home in South Bend.  Mr. Opfel was 71 years old.

He was born in Covert, Mich., Dec. 29, 1864.  As a young man he spent three years n  Fargo, S.D., returning to Michigan in 1886. In 1889 he was married to Miss Cora Palmer, of Watervliet, who survives him.  The family moved to South Bend in 1923.

While in Niles, the family attended the Presbyterian church and was widely known here in church and social circles.

Surviving are Mrs. Opfel, a daughter, Myrtle, at home; two sons, Raymond C. and Roye E. of South Bend, two granddaughters, a sister, Mrs. William Baldwin, St. Louis, MO, and a brother, Burton, Cushing, Okla.

Funeral services will be held Wednesday afternoon at 2:30 o'clock at the Price and Kiger funeral home and burial will be in Silverbrook cemetery.  The body will be at the family home in South Bend, 522 East Ewing avenue until the day of the funeral.

Niles Daily Star, Tuesday, June 4, 1935, page 2, col. 2, microfilm Niles District Library

Niles News In Brief:  OPFEL RITES WEDNESDAY

Funeral services for Alwin C. Opfel, 71, who died at his home in South Bend Sunday, will be held Wednesday afternoon at 2:30 o'clock in the Price and Kiger funeral home. The Rev. H.L. Ferguson, rector of St. James Episcopal church in South Bend, will officiate.  Mr. Opfel was a former resident of Niels and he and his family were members of Trinity Episcopal church during their residence here.

Kay M. Ramsey 
Oct. 25, 1931-Oct. 17, 1975

Niles Daily Star, Saturday, October 18, 1975, page 2, col. 3, microfilm Niles District Library

NILES—Mrs. Kay M. Ramsey, 43, 1819 N. Fifth St., was pronounced dead on arrival at Pawating Hospital at 10:40 a.m. Friday. She died suddenly.

She was born on Oct. 25, 1931 in Mitchell, S.D., and had lived in Niles since 1954, coming from Davenport, Iowa.

She is survived by her father, Walter Meeker of Phoenix, Ariz., one son, Robert Ramsey of Niles, one daughter, Mrs. Jeffrey (Barbara) Martin of Mt. Pleasant and one sister, Mrs. Lainey Rodes of Marion, Iowa.

Sevices[sic] for Mrs. Ramsey will be held at 3:30 p.m. Monday at the Halbritter Funeral Home with Joel E. Scholefield of the South Bend Unitarian Church officiating.

Friends may call from 6 to 9 p.m. Sunday at the Halbritter Funeral Home.

Anna Siefer 
Oct. 23, 1876-Feb. 28, 1951

Niles Daily Star, Friday, March 2, 1951; page 2, col.  5, microfilm, Niles District Library (from K. Alton)

Mrs. Anna Siefer, 251 Bond street, died suddenly of a heart attack sometime on Wednesday, Feb. 28.  She was found in her home Thursday morning. (illegible) William Weiser, of Niles.  Mrs. Siefer was born on Oct. 23, 1876, in Niles, and has lived here since returning from California six years ago.

Friends may call at the Pifer funeral home, where services will be conducted at 2:30 p.m. Saturday by the Rev. G.A. Steeby, pastor of the First Evangelical United Brethren church. Burial will be in Silverbrook cemetery.

Anna C.  Schmidt
June 8, 1892-Feb. 27, 1951

Niles Daily Star, Wednesday, February 28, 1951; page 2, col. 5, microfilm, Niles District Library (From K. Alton)

Word has been received here of the death of Mrs. Anna Schmidt, 58, of Detroit, who died Tuesday morning in Harper hospital, Detroit, after a lengthy illness.

Mrs. Schmidt was the widow of Dr. Harry B. Schmidt, who died in November of 1950.  She was a sister-in-law of Karl B. Schmidt, of Niles, and among her nieces and nephews who survive are Mrs. Sheridan A. Cook and Martin I. Schmidt, both of Niles.  Also surviving is a sister, Mrs. Harold Slayton, of Benton Harbor, and a brother, Herschel Church, of Oak Harbor, (illegible)

Services will be held in Detroit and the body will be brought here Friday for burial in Silverbrook cemetery.  Committal services will be conducted at approximately 3:30 p.m. at the cemetery, the minister to be announced later.

Note:  DOB/DOD and maiden name from Michigan Death record.

Stephen H. or Shepard Wheeler
1825-Dec. 12, 1880

Niles Republican, Thursday, December 16, 1880, page 3, col. 1, microfilm Niles District Library

Shepard Wheeler, a former resident of this city, died at Lagrange, Indiana, and was buried in this city on Tuesday last.

Note:  In cemetery database as Steven H. Wheeler; in 1870 census in Cass County as Shepard H. Wheeler.