Obituaries

Jay Raul Wilkens
Aug. 10, 1953-Nov. 15, 1953

Niles Daily Star, Monday, November 16, 1953, page 2, col. 6, microfilm Niles District Library

Jay Raul Wilkens, 1307 South Third street, was pronounced dead at about 10:30 a.m. by the Berrien County Coroner, Dr. Franklyn G. Rice, of Niles. Niles firemen answered a call at 10:27 a.m. Sunday and rushed an inhalator to the home, but t he three -month-old child was dead upon their arrival.

Surviving  are his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Almond Wilkens, of Niles; Grandparents, Paul Wilkens, of Pokagon, and Mrs. Selma Wilkens, of Niles; a twin brother, Roger Bryon and five brothers and sisters, Vince, Kim, Diana, and Cheryl, all at home.

The child was born on Aug. 19, 1953, in Mishawaka, Ind.

Friends may call at the Pifer Funeral Home, where services will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday, with the Rev. T.M. Greenhoe, Presbyterian pastor, officiating.  Burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery.

Note:  Per Michigan Death Certificate, burial was at Sumnerville cemetery not Silverbrook and there is no record of burial at Silverbrook.

Hazel Haslanger
July 21, 1902-June 8, 1952

Niles Daily Star, Monday, June 8, 1953, page 2, col. 5, microfilm Niles District Library

Mrs. Hazel D. Haslanger, 17 River street, died at 3:30 a.m. Today after an illness of four days, at Pawating Hospital.

Surviving are are one daughter, Mrs. Ora Knott, Niles, and two grandchildren. Mrs. Haslanger was born July 21, 1902, in Niles, and had lived here all her life.

Friends may call at the Pifer Funeral Home, where services will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday. The Rev. L. George Beacock, Methodist pastor, will officiate, and burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery.

Gerald Fletcher
June 12, 1952-June 7, 1953

Niles Daily Star, Monday, June 8, 1953, page 2, col. 5, microfilm Niles District Library

Gerald Fletcher, one-year-old son . . .[illegible] . . . p.m. Sunday in Children's Hospital, South Bend. He had been ill for six months.

Also surviving are his grandparents, Mr.  and Mrs. Virgil Fletcher, Niles, and Mrs.[sic] and Mrs. Clarence Hellwig, Buchanan. He was born on June 12, 1952, at Pawating Hospital.

Friends may call at the Pifer Funeral Home. Services will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the First Methodist Church, with the Rev. L. George Beacock, officiating.  Burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery.

Raymond W. Eberhard
Feb. 20, 1886-June 1, 1953

Niles Daily Star, Tuesday, June 2, 1953, page 2, col. 3, microfilm Niles District Library

Raymond W. Eberhard, 67, a veteran of 50 years in show business and manager of the Ready Theater here for 18 years, died suddenly on Monday morning in his home at 319 Fifteenth street, Port Huron.

Eberhard was associated with Butterfield Theaters for 25 years and managed the local theater from 1932 to 1950, leaving here in October 1950 for Flint.  He later went to Battle Creek, and in November of  1952 went to  Port Huron, where he was manager of the Lake and Riviera Theaters.

He was born on Feb. 20,  1886, in Cleveland, O., and married Ruth Saunders on Aug. 10, 1915. His widow survives.

Also surviving are two sons, John G., of Saginaw, and Lt. Wallace B. Eberhard, with the U.S. Army in Germany; two daughters, Mrs. Albert Verduin and Miss Betty Rae Eberhard, both of South Bend; five grandchildren; one brother, Arthur Eberhard, Springfield, Mass., and one sister, Mrs. Grace Pierson, Needham, Mass.

Funeral arrangements are incomplete. Friends may call at . . .[illegible]. . .

Niles Daily Star, Wednesday, June 3, 1953, page 2, col. 3, microfilm Niles District Library

EBERHARD RITES SET

Rites for Raymond W. Eberhard, formerly of Niles, who died Monday morning in his Port Huron home, have been set at 2  p. m. Friday in the Pifer Funeral Home.  The Rev. John G. Carlton, rector of Trinity Episcopal Church, will officiate, and burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery.

Katharyn Early
May 12, 1891*-Nov. 11, 1963

Niles Daily Star, Wednesday, November 13, 1963, page 2, col. 1, microfilm Niles District Library

Mrs. Katharyn Early, formerly of Niles, died Monday in Sarasota, Fla.

Mrs. Early was born here, and lived in Niles and Edwardsburg before moving to Florida. Her Husband, Frank, died May 1, 1956.

She was the last charter member of the Niles Women of the Moose, and a member of the Edwardsburg Order of Eastern Star No. 476.

Committal rites conducted by the Order of Eastern Star will be at 10 a.m. Friday in Silverbrook Cemetery.

Friends will be received at the Kiger Funeral Home from  9 to 10 a.m. Friday.

*dob from Social Security Death Index

Ray E. Chappell
Aug. 2, 1879-Nov. 29, 1953

Niles Daily Star, Monday, November 30, 1953, page 2, col. 5, microfilm Niles District Library

Ray E. Chappell, 74, of 1114 Woodward avenue, South Bend, and Sister Lakes, Mich., died at 7:30 p.m.  Sunday at his home in South Bend following an illness of two years.

Chappell was born Aug. 2, 1879, in Paw Paw and moved to South Bend from Niles two years ago.  He was a retired jeweler, having been in business 40 years. He was a lifetime member of the Elks Lodge here, and a member of the First Presbyterian Church. He was married in 1944 in South Bend to Nina Pearl Butzlach, who survives.

Also surviving are: a step-daughter, Mrs. J.F. Slingo, Duluth, Minn., and a great niece in Virginia City, Va.

Funeral services will be held at 3 p.m Wednesday in the Kiger Funeral Home here with the Rev. T.M. Green hoe, pastor of the Presbyterian Church, officiating. Burial will be in the Mausoleum at Silverbrook Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home.