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.

Grimes, Josephine D.

Josephine D. Grimes
June 26, 1885-May 5, 1953


Niles Daily Star, Monday, May 4, 1953, page 2, col. 5, microfilm Niles District Library

Mrs. Josephine D. Grimes, 29 River street, was pronounced dead upon arrival at Pawating Hospital at about 5:20 p.m. Sunday. She had arrived at the local depot via train from Chicago and collapsed as she entered a taxi.

Niles police answered the call and sent an ambulance to the scene, where Mrs. Grimes, who is said to have died of a heart attack, was transported to the hospital. She had been visiting a son, Thomas R. Grimes, in Chicago.

Surviving are the following children: Mrs. Fred Cook, Niles; Thomas R. Grimes, Chicago; James L. Grimes, of Mishawaka, Ind.; Mrs. Joseph McDade, Santa Monica, Calif.; Franklyn T. Grimes, Detroit; George L. Grimes, South Bend; Mrs. Charles Baldwin and Mrs. Jack Barry, both of South Bend.

Also surviving are 24 grandchildren; three great-grandchildren, and a sister-in-law, Mrs. Laura Stark, who made her home here with Mrs. Grimes.

Mrs. Grimes was born on June 26, 1885, in Chicago, and came to Niles from Chicago 36 years ago. She was a practical nurse, and was a member of St. Mary's Catholic Church, St. Mary's Altar and Rosary Society, Women of Moose and Lady Maccabees.

Friends may call at the Pifer Funeral Home. Services will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday at St. Mary's Catholic Church, with the Rev. Cletus Rose, pastor, officiating. Burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery.

 

 

Gully, Robert W.

Robert W. Gully
Sept. 25, 1875-April 24, 1954

Niles Daily Star, Monday, April 26, 1954, page 2, col. 1, microfilm Niles District Library

Robert W. Gully, 78, of 516 Cass street, died at 11:30 a.m. Saturday in Pawating Hospital, where he had been a patient for 18 days. He had been ill for several months.

Gully was born Sept. 25, 1875, in Virginia and came here 33 years ago from Chicago. he was a veteran of the Spanish-American War, and a member of th Franklin AME Church and the Niles chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

His only known survivor is his wife, Aney Belle.

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Tuday in the Franklin AME Church wit the Rev. Emory Davis of Galesburg, Ill., officiating. Burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery. Friends may call at the Kiger Funeral Home.

Hicks, Clarence E.

Clarence E. Hicks
Aug. 11, 1879-March 28, 1954


Niles Daily Star, Monday, March 29, 1954, page 2, col. 5, microfilm Niles District Library

Clarence E. Hicks, 74, of US-12, died Sunday at 6 p.m. in Pawating Hospital. He had been in poor health for the past four years.

Hicks was born Aug. 11, 1879, in Wabash, Ind., and came to Niles 15 years ago.

Surviving are: a son, William Hicks of Niles; two daughters, Mrs. Lillian Louis, South Bend, and Mrs. Mary Lehman, Elkhart, Ind.; a sister, Mrs. Amanda Hand, Akron, Ind.; 15 grandchildren, and 10 great grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m Wednesday in the Pifer Funeral Home with the Rev. L. George Beacock, pastor of the First Methodist church, officiating. Burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery.

 

Huffman, Ann Bertha (Schultz)

Ann Bertha Huffman
Dec. 14, 1919-March 28, 1954


Niles Daily Star, Monday, March 29, 1954, page 2, col. 5, microfilm Niles District Library

Mrs. Ann Bertha Huffman, 34, of 1434 Eagle street, died at 5:45 p.m.  Sunday in a hospital at Plainwell, Mich., following an illness of one week.

Mrs. Huffman was born in December, 1919, in Dowagiac and came to Niles 14 years ago.

Surviving are: her husband, Cleo; three children, Rose Ann, Helen Shirley and Lawrence, all at home; her mother, Mrs. Ida Schultz, Dowagiac; five brothers, Emil and Henry of Detroit, Jack and Arthur of Dowagiac, and Albert of South Bend, and five sisters, Mrs. Edith Bell of Buchanan and Mrs. Alvina Konappenski, Mrs. Rose Arnie, Mrs. Mildred Sullivan and Mrs. Helen Banke, all of Dowagiac.

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m Thursday at the Pifer Funeral Home with the Rev. John Kinner, pastor of the First Church of Christ here, officiating. Burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home beginning Tuesday.

Note: DOB from Michigan Death Record

 

Huffman, John Cleo

John Cleo Huffman
March 25, 1954


Niles Daily Star, Friday, March 26, 1954, page 2, col. 2, microfilm Niles District Library

John Cleo Huffman was still born at 1:30 p.m. Thursday at Plainwell to Mr. and Mrs. Cleo Huffman, 1434 Eagle street.

Surviving besides his parents are two sisters, Rose Ann and Helen Shirley, and one brother, Lawrence, at home.

Friends may call at the Pifer Funeral Home this evening. Committal services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Silverbrook Cemetery, with John W. Kinner, pastor of the First Church of Christ, presiding.

 

Lachman, Daniel

Daniel Lachman
Dec. 29, 1876-April 30, 1954


Niles Daily Star, Saturday, May 1, 1954, page 2, col. 7, microfilm Niles District Library

Daniel Lachman, 77, of 210 North Seventh street, retired New York Central Railroad employe, died at 4:30 p.m Friday at his home following an illness of 16 years.

Lachman was born Dec. 29, 1876, in Russia and came to Niles in 1920 from Ohio. He was a member of St. John's Evangelical and Reformed Church here and of the Brotherhood of [illegible]

Surviving are: his wife, Pauline, two daughters, Mrs. Alvin Witt, Elkhart, Ind., and Mrs. Henry Merritt, Niles, and three grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held at 2:30 p.m., Monday in St. John's Evangelical and Reformed church with the pastor, the Rev. H.A. Meussling, officiating. Burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery. Friends may call at the Kiger Funeral Home here.

 

Lardner, Henry

Henry Lardner
July 31, 1879-March 5, 1954


Niles Daily Star, Friday, March 5, 1954, page 2, col. 5, microfilm Niles District Library

Henry Lardner, Ex-Treasurer, Dies Today

 

Henry Lardner, 518 South Third Street, city treasurer of Niles in the early 1900s and brother of the late Ring Lardner, died at 6:30 a.m. today in his home. He had been ill five weeks. Lardner's parents were pioneers in Berrien County.

His wife, Kathryn, died in 1939. Surviving are one daughter, Miss Ellen Lardner, Niles; two sons, Fred W. , of Washington, D.C., and George E. Lardner, of New York city, and two sisters, Miss Lena Lardner, Niles, and Mrs. R.G. Tobin, of Douglaston, N.Y.

His grandfather, the Rev. Joseph Phillips, formerly was a pioneer rector of Trinity Episcopal Church for a number of years.  Another daughter, Atty. Katherine Lardner, died in 1935 in Chicago.

Lardner was born on July 31, 1870, In Glendale, O., and was graduated from the University of Michigan in 1891. He was a member of the Emeritus Club of the university, an honor organization for U. of M. graduates of 50 years or more.

He practiced as an attorney in Duluth, Minn., and operated the firm of Lardner and Middlekoff for a number of years. He moved to Niles and worked in the Post Office here until he retired in 1936.  Lardner was a Republican, and a member of the Niles Elks Lodge, Trinity Episcopal Church and of the Men's Club of Trinity Church.

Friends may call at the Pifer Funeral Home.  Services will be announced later.


Niles Daily Star, Saturday, March 6, 1954, page 2, col. 2, microfilm Niles District Library

Lardner Rites Set

Funeral services for Henry Lardner, 518 South Third street, who died Friday in this home, will be held at 2 p.m. Monday in Trinity Episcopal Church with the rector, the Rev. John G. Carlton officiating.  Burial will be in the family lot in Silverbrook Cemetery.

Lardner's two sons, George of New York City and Fred of Washington, D.C. are in the city to attend rites.  A niece, Mrs. Stewart Tautphaus Green of Mount Clemens, also is in the city.