Obituaries

Jon Wesley Atkinson
Nov. 22, 1944-Nov. 29, 1963

Niles Daily Star, Saturday, November 30, 1963, page 1, col. 8, continued page 2, col. 1, microfilm Niles District Library

NILES YOUTH KILLED IN CRASH

Two Companions Hurt Seriously

EAU CLAIRE—A Niles youth was killed and two companions were injured when their auto crashed into a tree and flipped over near here, Friday afternoon.

Jon Wesley Atkinson, 19, of 2280 Warren Road, Niles, was pronounced dead on arrival at Mercy Hospital, Benton Harbor. He had suffered severe arm, leg, body and internal injuries.

Listed in “guarded condition” this morning at the hospital were Donald Yonker Jr., 18, of 540 Lake St., Niles and John Middleton, 18, of 1047 Almaugus Drive, Niles.

YONKER, the driver of the auto, suffered a fractured skull and internal injuries. Middleton suffered severe head cuts, a fractured right ankle and minor cuts and bruises.

Berrien County sheriff's deputies said the car was headed west on Cushing Road, near Brush Lake road, east of here, about 4:10 p.m. Friday when the mishap occurred.

The auto went out of control on a slight hill, over a six-foot embankment and smashed int o the tree. The three youths were thrown from the car as it flipped over on its top, the deputies reported.

Deputies said a manslaughter investigation is continuing. Atkinson's death raises this year's county toll to 42, one less than at this time last year.

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ATKINSON was born Nov. 22. 1944, in Alma. He came to Niles from Ft. Worth, Tex., in 1958. He was a student at Western Michigan University.

Survivors include his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Everett Atkinson; grandparents Mrs. Esther Grosenburg, Rogers City, and Mr. and Mrs. J.W. Atkinson, Frederic; a brother, William, Barron Lake; and three sisters, Mrs. Clarence Hamilton, Phoenix, Ariz., Miss Yvonne Cummins, Chicago, and Mrs. Richard Davis, Orlando, Fla.

Funeral Services will be conducted at 3 p.m. Monday in the Pifer Funeral Home. The Rev. Maurice McKean, pastor of the First Methodist Church will officiate. Burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery.

Friends are being received at the funeral home.

Maria Barnes
April 16, 1867-Dec. 9, 1963

Niles Daily Star, Tuesday, December 10, 1963, page 2, col. 4, microfilm Niles District Library

Mrs. Maria (Minnie) Barnes, 96, of 1614 Oak St., died at 1:30 p.m. Monday in her home. She had been ill three weeks.

Mrs. Barnes was born April 16, 1867, in Ypsilanti. She came to Niles from that city in 1934. Her husband, Charles, is deceased.

She was a member of Trinity Episcopal Church.

Funeral services will be conducted at 1 p.m. Wednesday in the Kiger Funeral Home. The Rev. John Carlton, pastor of her church, will officiate. Burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery.

Friends are being received at the funeral home.

Samuel Bower
Nov. 2, 1864- Sept. 26, 1943

Niles Daily Star, Monday, September 27, 1943, page 2, col. 5, microfilm Niles District Library

SAMUEL BOWER, 79, STRICKEN SUNDAY

Samuel Bower, 79, of 330 North Fourth street, died at 10 Sunday morning in the Berrien county hospital at Berrien Center after a year's illness.

Born in Whitley county , Indiana, Bower came to Niles 25 years ago and engaged in the antique furniture business. He retired several years ago after the death of his wife.

Surviving are a sister, Mrs. Frank Ganz, Bourbon, Ind.; a brother, Elmer Bower, Columbia City, Ind., and a sister-in-law, Mrs. Margaret Hively, Niles.

Friends may call at the Price and Kiger funeral home where services will be conducted Tuesday at 2 by the Rev. Theodore Laesch. Burial will be in Silverbrook cemetery.

Niles Daily Star, Tuesday, September 28, 1943, page 2, col. 2, microfilm Niles District Library

PALLBEARERS

S.M. Simpson, Ellsworth Lauritsen, Elmer Ruetz, Goerge Kneeshaw, Charles Adams, and Rollie Wynn served as pallbearers this afternoon for Samuel Bower, who died Sunday morning. Services were conducted by the Rev. Theodore Laesch in the Price and Kiger funeral home.

Note: DOB from Michigan Death record.

Michael Elisha Boxley
May 7, 1954-July 13, 1963

Niles Daily Star, Saturday, July 13, 1963, page 2, col. 3, microfilm Niles District Library

MICHAEL ELISHA Boxley, 9, of 20 ½ E. Main St., was pronounced dead on arrival at 6 a.m. today at Pawating Hospital.

His mother, Mrs. Eric Doty, told Niles police he probably suffered one of his bronchial asthma attacks. The boy had been ill for three years, according to a report by the Kiger Funeral home.

Police were called to the Doty home at 5:40 a.m. By his mother. She said he had collapsed. Dr. John R. Bruni pronounced the youth dead on arrival at the hospital.

He was born May 7, 1954, in Berrien Springs. Surviving in addition to his parents are four sisters, Zeri, Zelda, Nann and Kim, all at home; and his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs Elisha Davis, Niles.

Funeral services will be held at the Mt. Calvary Baptist Church . .[illegible].. .Burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home.

Clara Bracken
Nov. 15, 1872-Sept. 22, 1963

Niles Daily Star, Monday, September 23, 1963, page 2, col. 4, microfilm Niles District Library

Funeral services for Miss Clara Bracken, 90, of 621 N. 6^th St., will be conducted at 2 pm. Wednesday in the Kiger Funeral Home. The Rev. John MacLachlan, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, will officiate. Burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery.

She died at 4:30 p.m. Sunday in Pawating Hospital, shortly after being admitted.

Miss Bracken was born Nov. 15, 1872, in Brighton, Iowa. She lived most of her life here.

Surviving are five nieces, Mrs. Arthur Storms, Benton Harbor, Mrs. Robert Lyons, Mount Prospect, Ill., Mrs. John Jackson, Ozark, Ala., Mrs. E.J. Larsen, St. Petersburg, Fla., and Mrs. William Briggs, Champaign, Ill.; and two nephews, Wallace Bracken, New York State, and Worth Bracken, Fort Worth, Tex.

She was the oldest charter member of the First Presbyterian Church.

Friends are being received at the funeral home.

Dow Bybee
April 22, 1889-Oct. 20, 1943

Niles Daily Star, Thursday, October 21, 1943, page 2, col. 6, microfilm Niles District Library

Dow Bybee, Armada, Mich., son of Mrs. Mary Ellen Bybee, Niles, died Wednesday night at 10 in St. Joseph Hospital, Mount Clemens, after an illness of four weeks.

He was born in Marshall county, Ind. Surviving, besides his mother are his wife, Mrs. Jennie Bybee, a daughter, Miss Isabelle Bybee, Chicago; four brothers, Walter, Lyman and Ernest Bybee, all of Niles, Melvin Bybee, Detroit,and a sister, Mrs. Bessie Lowe, Rochester, Ind.

The body will arrive in Niles Friday. Services will be conducted Saturday afternoon at 2 in the Rutherford funeral home. Burial will be in Silverbrook cemetery.