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.

Palmer, Floyd

Floyd Palmer
Aug. 29, 1892-Dec. 7, 1942


Niles Daily Star, Monday, December 7, 1942, page 1, col. 4, microfilm Niles District Library

FLOYD PALMER STRICKEN TODAY

 

Floyd Palmer .. [illegible]. .South Eleventh street, died in his home at 9:10 this morning. He had been ill about one week of a heart aliment[sic].

Palmer had been active in Niles approximately 24 years. He organized the Palmer transfer company shortly after entering the trucking and hauling business. He was born August 29, 1892, in Sumnerville and spent his entire life in the Niles area.

Survivors are his widow, Mrs. Eva Palmer and two sons at home--Charles and Clair and a sister Mrs. Malita Knauz, Detroit.

Friends may call at the Price and Kiger funeral home from Tuesday afternoon until 2 Wednesday, when the service will be held in the chapel. Burial will be in Silverbrook cemetery.

 

Reed, Verbie

Verbie Reed
Oct. 20, 1885-April 14, 1943


Niles Daily Star, Thursday, April 15, 1943, page 2, col. 2, microfilm Niles District Library

Mrs. Verbie Read[sic] Dies; Retes at 2 Friday Afternoon

 

Funeral services for Mrs. Verbie Reed, 57, of 221 1/2 North Second street, will be conducted Friday afternoon at 2 in the Pifer funeral home. Burial will be in Silverbrook cemetery.

Mrs. Reed, who had been ill since Sunday night, died at 11 Wednesday morning in the Berrien county hospital. She was born in Branch county, Michigan, Oct. 20, 1885, and was a member of the Niles Salvation Army post.

Surviving are her mother, Mrs. Delia Digman, Jackson; a soon, Vere, Arnold, at home; a daughter, Mrs. Wilma Dickson, Stafford, Conn., and a brother, Vere Digman, who lives in Ohio.

Friends may call in the Pifer funeral home.

 

Reum, Anna Catherine

Anna Catherine Reum
April 23, 1875-April 6, 1943


Niles Daily Star, Wednesday, April 7, 1943, page 2, col. 7, microfilm Niles District Library

MRS. ANNA REUM DIES; RITES FRIDAY

 

Mrs. Anna Catherine Reum, 67, who was born in Niles and had lived all her life, died Tuesday afternoon in her home at 910 Regent street after a two months' illness.

Born here April 23, 1875, she  was married in Niles April 17, 1906, to August F. Reum, who died April 20, 1935.

Surviving are a daughter, Miss Frieda Reum, Niles; a son, Armin Reum, Akron, Ohio; two step-sons, Herman and Louis Reum, both of Detroit, and seven grandchildren.

Friends may call in  the Rutherford funeral home where the service will be conducted Friday afternoon at 2. The Rev. Theo Eisen, pastor of St. John's Evangelical church, of which Mrs. Reum was a member, will officiate. Burial will be in Silverbrook cemetery.


Niles Daily Star, Thursday, April 7, 1943, page 2, col. 3, microfilm Niles District Library

Reum Pallbearers

Funeral services for Mrs. Anna Catherine Reum, 910 Regent street, will be conducted Friday afternoon at 2 in the Rutherford funeral home. The Rev. Theo Eisen, pastor of St. John's Evangelical church, will officiate. Pallbearers include Henry Kaiser, Irvin Roebeck, Herman Reum, Louis Reum, Mark Thompson and Alex Zalai.  Burial will be in Silverbrook cemetery.

Stoll, Charles D.

Charles D. Stoll
June 23, 1887-May 15, 1943


Niles Daily Star, Monday, May 17, 1943, page 2, col. 8, microfilm Niles District Library

CHARLES STOLL FUNERAL TUESDAY

 

Private funeral services for Charles D. Stoll, 55, will be conducted Tuesday afternoon at 2:30 in his home, 530 North Fourth street. The Rev. Guy W. Simon, pastor of the First Presbyterian church, will officiate with private burial rites in Silverbrook cemetery.

Mr. Stoll, a resident of Niles nearly 50 years, died Saturday afternoon at 5 in Epworth hospital, South Bend, after an illness of three weeks.

He was born in Buchanan June 23, 1887, and came to Niles during his childhood.  A member of the First Presbyterian church  and of the Niles Elks lodge, he was associated with the McCray Refrigeration company, Kendallville, Ind.

Call Until Noon

Surviving with his widow, Mrs. Lulu Stoll, are his father, Matthew Stoll; a son, Richard Stoll; a brother, Arthur Stoll, and two grandchildren, all of Niles.

Friends may call in the family home until noon Tuesday.

Serving as active pallbearers will be Claude J. Huff, Earl Zechlin, Walter H. Parkin, Fred B. Kompass, E.M. Bigelow and A.R. Rahn, all of Niles.

Honorary pallbearers wil include associates of Mr. Stoll in the McCray company--R.J. Rehwinkle, John W. Hart, Clarence and Harry Ziebell, Glenn Henry and Clifford Knight.

 

Schroeder, Beatrice R

Beatrice Schroeder
Jan. 21, 1896-March 9, 1943


Niles Daily Star, Wednesday, March 10, 1943, page 2, col. 2, microfilm Niles District Library

Mrs. Schroeder, Bertrand, Dies; Rites Thursday

 

Mrs. Beatrice R. Schroeder, 45, a Bertrand resident since 1938, died Tuesday night at 8:30 in the state hospital, Kalamazoo. She was the widow of Willard Schroeder, Sr.

Mrs. Schroeder was born Jan. 21, 1896 in Brooken, Okla., and moved to Bertrand from South Bend.

Surviving are a son, James Cates, South Bend; a sister, Mrs. Neal Gowen, Brooken, and two brothers, Richard Norman, Whitfield, Okla., and Frederick Norman, McAlister, Okla.

Friends may call in the Rutherford funeral home where the service will be conducted Thursday afternoon at 2:30.

 

Settles, Hillard

Hillard Settles
July 15, 1876-May 12, 1943


Niles Daily Star, Thursday, May 13, 1943, page 2, col. 5, microfilm Niles District Library

 

HILLARD SETTLES, ROUTE 1, STRICKEN

 

Hillard Settles, 66, Route 1, died at 8:10 Wednesday night in Pawating hospital of complications after an illness of pneumonia.

A retired furniture buyer, Mr. Settles came to Niles from Chicago. He was born July 15, 1876 in Ripley, Ohio.

Surviving with his widow, Mrs. Alice Settles, are eight brothers and sisters--William, Fred and Edward Settles and Mrs. Josephine Sneed, all of Ripley; Frank Settles, Brooklyn, N.Y.; E.K. Settles and Mrs. Alice Johnson, Chicago, and Mrs. Dorothy Berry, Dayton, Ohio.

The body is in the Rutherford funeral home.


Niles Daily Star, Friday, May 14, 1943, page 2, col. 2, microfilm Niles District Library

Settles Rites

Funeral services for Hillard Settles, Route 1, will be conducted Saturday morning at 10 in the Rutherford funeral home by the Rev. A.J. Jelks, pastor of the Franklin A.M. church. Burial will be in Silverbrook cemetery. Settles died Wednesday night in Pawating hospital after an illness of pneumonia.

Smith, Grace Gustine

Grace Gustine Smith


Niles Daily Star, Monday, May 10, 1943, page 2, col. 7, microfilm Niles District Library


Grace Smith Dies in Elkhart After Indigestion Attack

 

Mrs. Grace Gusine Smith, resident of Niles for a number of year[sic], died suddenly this morning at 6 in the Elkhart home where she and her daughter, Kathryn, had been living temporarily.

Mrs. Smith apparently was recovering from a fractured leg suffered in an automobile accident in Elkhart two weeks ago and died unexpectedly a half-hour after suffering an attack of acute indigestion.

Widow of the late Charles E. Smith, former Niles wood products manufacturer, Mrs. Smith had spent the winter months in Florida and the summer at the family's Birch lake cottage since Mr. Smith's death about 12 years ago.

Surviving are two other daughters, Mrs. Grace E. Haase, Oak Park, Ill, and Mrs. Mary Louise Marshall, Chicago; a son, [illegible] Smith, Elkhart, and two grandchildren.

The body will be brought to Silverbrook cemetery for burial after rites Wednesday afternoon in the A.G. Zelle funeral home, Elkhart.


Niles Daily Star, Wednesday, May 12, 1943, page 2, col. 3, microfilm Niles District Library

Smith Burial Rites

Committal rites for Mrs. Grace Gustine Smith, widow of the late Charles E. Smith, former Niles wood products manufacturer, were conducted this afternoon in Silverbrook cemetery. The funeral services was in the A.G. Zelle funeral home, Elkhart.  Mrs. Smith died in Elkhart Monday after an attack of acute indigestion.