Obituaries

Ernest H. Cook
Feb. 19, 1903-Nov. 3, 1967

Niles Daily Star, Saturday, November 4, 1967, page 2, col. 4, microfilm Niles District Library

Ernest H. Cook, 64, of 1440 Marion St., died at 1:10 p.m. Friday in Pawating Hospital, following a one-month illness.

Mr. Cook, a retired employe of the Studebaker Corp., South Bend, was born Feb. 19, 1903, in Valley City, Ill. He came to Niles from that state 42 years ago.

Survivors include his wife, Roberta; his father, Fred E. Cook, Milton, Ill., two sons, Robert and Richard, both of Niles; three brothers, Leonard, Marlon and Keith, all of Milton; four sisters, Mrs. Vera Howland and Mrs. Geraldine Peebles, both also of Milton, Mrs. Imogene Bollman, Niles and Mrs. Genevieve Upzicker, San Diego, Calif.; and four grandchildren.

Funeral services will be at 10 a.m., Monday in the Pifer Funeral Home.

The Rev. Lowell Jackson, pastor of the First Church of Christ, will officiate. Burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery.

Friends are being received at the funeral home.

Roberta F. Cook
March 30, 1907-July 9, 1990

Niles Daily Star, Wednesday, July 11, 1990, page 2, col. 2, microfilm Niles District Library

Graveside funeral services for Roberta F. Cook, 83, of Woodfield Manor, Niles, are at 11 a.m. Thursday at Silverbrook Cemetery in Niles.

Mrs. Cook died at 11:35 p.m. Monday at Woodfield Manor following a long illness.

Mrs. Cook was born March 30, 1907, in Manchester, Tenn.

In July, 1926, in Elkhart, Ind., she married Ernest H. Cook, who preceded her in death Nov. 7, 1967. Two sons also preceded her in death; Edward Cook in 1965 and Richard Cook in 1983.

Survivors include a son, Robert L. Cook of Lake St. Louis, Mo.; and six grandchildren.

Memorials may be made to Woodfield Manor Nursing Home Piano Fund. Arrangements were made by Pifer-Smith Funeral Home in Niles.

There will be no visitation.

Lennie Curtis
Jan. 8, 1889-Oct. 30, 1967

Niles Daily Star, Tuesday, October 31, 1967, page 2, col. 5, microfilm Niles District Library

Mrs. Lennie Curtis, 78, of 2530 S. 3rd St., died at 3:05 p.m., Monday in Pawating Hospital, following an illness of four and one-half years.

Mrs. Curtis was born Jan. 8, 1889, in Knoxville, Tenn. She came to Niles 45 years ago from Muskegon.

Survivors include her husband, Ollie; two sons, Everett and Miles, and a daughter, Mrs. Cloyd Moore, all of NIles; brothers and sisters, Mrs. Ruth VanDyke, NIles, Rex Waver, Earl Weaver, Reba Weaver and U.B. Weaver, all of Muskegon; nine grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

Funeral services will be at 10 a.m., Thursday in the Pifer Funeral Home. Elder John P. Reese of the Buchanan Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints will officiate.

Burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery.

Friends are being received at the funeral home.

Steven Drotoz
1949-Nov. 11, 1967

Niles Daily Star, Monday, November 13, 1967, page 1, col. 6-7, microfilm Niles District Library

Smashup kills Niles youth, 18

Funeral services for Steven Drotoz, 18, son of Mr.and Mrs. Steve Drotoz, 2119 Spansail Drive, will be conducted at 1 p.m. Wednesday in the Pifer Funeral Home.

The youth, a sophomore at Western Michigan University, was killed Saturday night in a near head-on auto crash on Edison Road near Hickory Road.

He was a passenger in a car driven by Jerry Flenar, 19, son of Mr. and Mrs. Donald Flenar, route one, buchanan[sic]. Flenar, a junior at WMU, suffered a severe forehead cut and was released from St. Joseph's Hospital, South Bend, after treatment.

Also a passenger in the Flenar auto was Linda Cooper, 17, daughter of Mr.and Mrs. Clayson Cooper, 1808 Cedar St.  She was released from St. Joseph's Hospital after emergency treatment for back and shoulder bruises.

Corliss Zanini, 18, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Zanini, route two, Buchanan, also riding in the Flenar auto, is listed in fairly good condition in St. Joseph's Hospital.

Driver of the other auto, Linda Casper, 16, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Everett Casper, 52871 Hollyhock Road, South End, is listed in fair condition in the same hospital.

South Bend city police reort the accident is still under investigation. Officers reported that the Casper auto went out of control and careened across the centerline striking the oncoming Flenar auto.

The Drotoz boy is survived by his parents, his grandmother, Mrs. Inez Butterworth of Niles; a brother William of San Antonio, Texas; and a sister Helen at home.

He was born in Spangler, Pa., and moved the Niles area in 1951.

Funeral services will be conducted by the Rev. Kenneth Cary pastor of the Westminster Presbyterian Church.  Burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery.

Friends may call at the funeral home after 7 p.m. today.

Viola Williams Frame
March 17, 1895-July 18, 1990

Niles Daily Star, Thursday, July 19, 1990, page 2, col. 4-5, microfilm Niles District Library

Funeral Services for former Buchanan resident, Viola Frame, 95, of Regency Place, South Bend, Ind., are at 10 a.m. Saturday at Swem Funeral Home of Buchanan by Rev. Charles Johnston.

Burial will follow at Silverbrook Cemetery in Niles.

Mrs. Frame died at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday at Regency Place following a lengthy illness.

Mrs. Frame was born March 17, 1895, in New Troy and had been a lifelong resident of this area. She was a homemaker. She was a member of the Buchanan American Legion Auxiliary and a charter member of the Bertrand Township Fire Department Auxiliary. She was affiliated with the Methodist Church.

In 1911, in Galien, she married Isaac Williams, who preceded her in death in 1939, and in 1945, in Buchanan, she married Ray A. Frame, who preceded her in death in 1962. Four daughters, Loriene Williams, Dora Martin, Mabel Smith and Esther Illiff, and a son, Donald Williams, preceded her in death.

Survivors include three daughters, Hazel Williams of Niles, Frances Schultz of Plant City, Fl., and Silva Helfer of Fife Lake; a son, Franklin LeRoy Williams of Buchanan; 27 grandchildren; 43 great-grandchildren; and 24 great-great-grandchildren.

Friends may call from 4 to 9 p.m. Friday at the funeral home.  Memorials may be made to the American Legion Auxiliary of Buchanan.

August Freeland
Dec. 1, 1883-Oct. 16, 1967

Niles Daily Star, Wednesday, October 16, 1967, page 2, col. 2-3, microfilm Niles District Library

August E.  Freeland, 84, of 1316 Hickory St., died today at 8:15 a.m., at his home following a seven-months illness.

Reitred[sic] from the New York Central Railroad, Mr. Freeland was born in Freeport, Dec. 1, 1883. He moved here from Grand Rapids in 1942. On May 29, 1943, he married the former Mildred A. Eldridge in Niles, who survives.

Funeral services will be conducted Saturday at 11 a.m. in the Halbritter-Swem Funeral Home, with the Rev. Vincent J. Anderson officiating.

In addition to the widow, he is survived by a daughter, Mrs. Lorraine Roth of Lake Odessa; a son, Parker Freeland of Burbank, Calif.; a step-daughter, Mrs. Ethel Hutchens of Richmond, Ind.; and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Friends may call at the funeral home after 7 p.m. Thursday.

Burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery.