Obituaries

Cleveland Hipshier
May 4, 1885-July 21, 1952 

Niles Daily Star, July 21, 1952, page 2, microfilm Niles District Library  (D. Barkman) 

CLEVELAND HIPSHIER  

Cleveland (Happy) Hipshier, 67, of rural route one, retired inspector for the New York Central Railroad, died at 1:45 a.m. today in Pawating hospital. He had been ill two years.  

He was born May 4, 1885, in Indiana and came to Niles 45 years ago. His wife, Margaret, died in June, 1931.  

Survivors include 10 children. Miss Orletta Hipshier, Mrs. Myrtle Shepardson, Mrs. Dorothea Seals, Mrs. Catherine Bowerman, Mrs. Pansy Cleary, Mrs. Betsy Vandygriff, Mrs. Irene Leamon. Happy Hipshier Jr., and Jack, all of Niles, and Mrs. Fentalene Harrell, of Ravenna, Ohio; three brothers, Roscoe, of Niles, Charles, of Grand Rapids, and Lon, of Benton Harbor; a sister, Mrs. Irene Coon, also of Benton Harbor, and 22 grandchildren.  

Funeral services will be held at 4 p.m. Wednesday from the Kiger funeral home with the Rev. A. J. Martin officiating. Burial will be in Silverbrook cemetery.

Dorothy Margaret (Horner) Hipshier
Apr. 27, 1888 – June 1, 1931  

Niles Daily Star, June 2, 1931, page 1, microfilm Niles District Library  (D. Barkman)

MRS. HIPSHIER, MOTHER OF 10 CHILDREN, DIES  

Passes Away at Epworth Hospital After Lung Infection   

Mrs. Dorothy Margaret Horner Hipshier, 43, wife of Cleveland Hipshier, 317 N. Seventh Street, died in Epworth hospital, South Bend last evening at 9:10. She was taken to that hospital yesterday afternoon at 2 o'clock in a hope that an infection of the lungs and an illness with pneumonia with which she had been stricken  10 days previous might be arrested. For several days after she became ill she was about the house and her condition had been considered alarming only since last Thursday.

Mrs. Hipshier was the mother of 10 children of whom nine survive her, the youngest of  whom is three years.  Dorothy Margaret Horner was born in Niles on April 27, 1888 and had spent her entire  life here. She was a daughter of Reuben and Anna Horner. Her mother died 16 years ago.  Her father survives her and is critically ill in the home of his son, Clarence, having  been ill since last March. She was married in Niles to Cleveland Hipshier in 1906.  Her husband survives her and the following children: Mrs. Myrtle Shepardson, Mrs. Dorothea Seals, Orletta, Katherine, Fentalene, Happy, Pansy, Bettsie and  Irene Lucille, all of Niles. Besides the husband, her father and children,  Mrs. Hipshier is survived by the following brothers and sisters, Mrs. Elizabeth Bidwell, Mrs. Emma Worvey, Mrs. Ruby Felhuaer and Mrs. Claudine Deditch, Clarence and Everett Horner, all of Niles and Mrs. Lucille Deditch, of Laporte Indiana.  

Mrs. Hipshier was a member of the Niles lodge of Maccabees,No. 39, of the Royal Neighbors and of the Loyal Star.  

The funeral services will be held on Thursday afternoon at 2:30 in the Trost and Augustine chapel. Burial will be made in Silverbrook cemetery. 

Orletta Christina Hipshier
Aug. 6, 1907-Jan. 22, 1955

Niles Daily Star, Saturday, January 22, 1955, page 2, col. 2, microfilm Niles District Library

Miss Orletta Christina Hipshier, 47, of 1318 Thomson, died at 5:40 a.m. today in her home following an illness of seven years.

Miss Hipshier was born Aug. 6, 1907, in Niles, and had spent her entire lifetime here. Surviving are: seven sisters, Mrs. Myrtlebell Shepardson, Mrs. Dorthea Seals, Mrs. Katherine Bowerman, Mrs. Pansy Cleary and Mrs. Irene Leamon, all of Niles; Mrs. Fentaline Harrell of Ravenna, O., and Mrs. Betsy Vandygriff, of Germany; two brothers, Jack and Happy Hipshier, both of Niles, and an uncle Roscoe Hipshier, with whom she made her home.

Funeral servces[sic] wil[sic] be held at 2 p.m. Monday at the First Church of christ with the pastor, the Rev. John Kinner, officiating.  Burial will be in Silverbrook cmetery.  Friends may call at the Kiger Funeral Home.

Patricia VanDecar Gillette Kephart
Sept. 4, 1925-Jan. 7, 1993

Niles Daily Star, Saturday, January 9, 1993, page 2, col. 1, microfilm Niles District Library (Wm. Brackett)

Patricia VanDecar Gillette Kephart, 66, of Jones Road, Berrien Springs, passed away at 2:48 p.m Thursday at Memorial Hospital in South bend, Ind.

Funeral services are Monday at 11 a.m. at the First Presbyterian Church, Niles, of which she was a member.

Burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery, Niles.

Friends may call from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday at the McLauchlin-Hoge Funeral Home in Berrien Springs.

Memorial contribuitons may be made to the Berrien County Historical Society or the First Presbyterian Church of Niles.

Mrs. Kephart was born Sept. 4, 1926, in Berrien Springs and was a lifelong resident.  She was the owner of Hardscrabble Publishing in Berrien Springs and was the former owner of the Journal Era from 1979 to 1985. She was a board member of the Berrien County Historical Society and had served on the Berrien Township Board of Appeals and the Berrien County Department of Public works.

Sh was preceded in death by her first husband, John W. Gillette, in 1983.

Survivors include her husband, George Kephart, whom she married Oct. 3, 1992, in Berrien Spirngs; a son, Stuart Gillette of Elmhurst, Ill.; a step-daughter, Kathryn Wisdon of Amarillo, Texas; two step-sons, Todd Gillette of Three Oaks and Robert Gillette of Gaithersburg, Maryland; six grandchildren; and one brother, Phillip VanDecar of Royal Oak.

Irma Koons
July 25, 1899-Jan. 2, 1986

Niles Daily Star, Thursday, January 2, 1986, page 2, col. 6, microfilm Niles District Library (Wm. Brackett)

Irma I. Koons, 86, 13 1/2 S. Third St., Niles, died at 6:20 a.m. today at her residence following an extended illness.

For 25 years she was Democratic Chairman of the Election Board of the city of Niles. Koons also was a member of Wesley United Methodist Church and the Philathea Class of Church.

Born July 25, 1899 in Niles she was a lifetime area resident.

On April 25, 1917 in St. Joseph she married John A. Koons, who died June 25, 1960.

Surviving is a daughter, Beverly Welsh of San Jacinto, Calif.

Services are 3 p.m. Friday at the Mausoleum at Silverbrook Cemetery with Rev. Lloyd A Phillips of Wesley United Methodist Church officiating. Burial will be at Silverbrook Cemetery.

There will be no visitation.

Memorials may be made to Hospice Inc., the Berrien County Cancer Service or the Wesley United Methodist Church Memorial Fund.

Halbritter Funeral Home is in charge of the Lacal[sic] arrangements.

John A. Koons
April 9, 1896-June 25, 1960

Niles Daily Star, Monday, June 27, 1960, page 2, microfilm Niles District Library (Wm. Brackett)

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday in the Pifer Funeral Home for John A. Koons, 54, who died at 10:30 a.m. Saturday in Pawating Hospital, where he had been a patient since June 3. Death was caused by a heart attack.

Rites will be conducted by Dr. Maurice McKean, pastor of the Methodist Church, and burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery.

Mr. Koons was born in Buchanan on April 9, 1896, the son of John Thomas and Alice Miller Koons. he moved to Niles from Buchanan 23 years ago.  Mr. Koons had been an employe of the Clark Equipment Co., of Buchanan, whre he originated the 20 Year Club.

Survivors are the wife, Irma; a daughter, Mrs. W.C. Welsh of Berrien Springs, and two brothers, Will Koons of Kalamazoo and Charles Koons of Buchanan.