Obituaries

Orange Homer Johnson
Dec. 5, 1883-March 27, 1961

Niles Daily Star, Monday, March 27, 1961, page 2, col. 5, microfilm Niles District Library

Orange Homer Johnson, 77, 1633 Cherry St., died at 5 p.m. Sunday in the Berrien County Hospital where he had been a patient for six days. He had been ill for one month.

Mr. Johnson, a retired minister, was born Dec. 5, 1883, in Benton, Miss. and had lived in Niles for 10 years coming here from Decatur.  He was a member of Franklin AME Church.

Surviving are his widow, Viola; three daughters, Mrs. Velma Fouche, Niles, Mrs. Henrietta Waugh, Cleveland, Ohio, and Mrs. Mattie Etta Emanual, New York City; seven sons, John W. Johnson, St. Louis, Mo., Leonard O. Johnson, Detroit, Daniel W. Johnson, Dowagiac, Sylvester and Joe K. Johnson, both Niles, and Jennings and James D. Johnson, both Indianapolis, Ind.; 22 grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren.; three sisters, Mrs. Inez Laws, North Little Rock, Ark., Mrs. Julia E. Slaughter, Decatur, and Mrs. Esther Bennett, Chicago, and a brother William A. Johnson, St. Louis,Mo.

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday in Franklin AME church with the pastor, the Rev. John H. Lindsay, officiating. Burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery.

Friends are being received at the Kiger and Halbritter Funeral Home.

Dola K. Brodie
July 8, 1896-Oct. 30, 1978

Niles Daily Star, Tuesday, October 31, 1978, page 2, col. 7, microfilm Niles District Library

NILES--Dola K. Brodie, 82, of 1211 State Line Road, died at 12:35 p.m. Monday at the Paul Stephan Nursing Home following an extended illness.

She was born July 8, 1896 in Harriman, Tenn., and moved to the Niles area in 1920 from Battle Creek. She married Dr. John G. Brodie on June 2, 1918 in Battle Creek, and he preceded her in death in 1949.

Mrs. Brodie was a member of the First Presbyterian Church, the Ladies Reading Club and Niles Music Club, the Veterans of World  War I, and the United States Army Nurses Corps.  She was a registered nurse.

Surviving are two daughters, Mrs. Gerald (Annette) Blais of Schaghticoke, N.Y., and Mrs. Fred (Barbara) Opfer of Decatur; a brother, Briggs Keach of Fort Myers, Fla., a sister Gertrude Keach of Alexandria, Va., and 21 grandchildren.

Funeral services will be at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at the Halbritter Funeral Home by the Rev. Donald L. Harris, and burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery.

Friends may call from 2 to 4 pm. and 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at the Halbritter Funeral Home. Memorials may be given to the Niles Community Library.

Ivan Watson
June 5, 1897*-April 23, 1974

Niles Daily Star, Thursday, April 25, 1974, page 2, col. 4, microfilm Niles District Library

HOWARD TOWNSHIP--Funeral services for Ivan Watson, 76, of 883 Carberry Rd., who died Tuesday, will be held at 1:30 p.m. Friday in the Pifer Chapel of the Swem-Smith Funeral Home.

Officiating will be the Rev. Eugene Jones of South Bend. Burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery.

Friends may call after 5 p.m. today at the funeral home.

*DOB from Michigan Death record and Social Security Death Index.

Kelly K. Davis
Jan. 14, 1974-April 20, 1974

Niles Daily Star, Monday, April 22, 1974, page 2, col. 5, microfilm Niles District Library

NILES--Kelly K. Davis, three-months-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest A. Davis of South Bend, died at 1:55 p.m. Saturday in Pawating Hospital.

She was born Jan. 14 in South Bend.

Surviving are her grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. John H. Davis and Mr. and Mrs. Earl Scanlon, all of Niles, and great-grandparents, John Davis of Niles and Mrs.  Helen Scanlon of Mishawaka.

Graveside services will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday in Silverbrook Cemetery, with the Rev. Irven Nussdorfer of the Westminster Presbyterian Church officiating.

Clinton D. Kepler
March 21, 1927-Feb. 19, 1964

Niles Daily Star, Thursday, February 20, 1964, page 2, col. 2, microfilm Niles District Library

Former Niles Man, Injured in Fight, Dies

FORT WAYNE, Ind.--Clinton D. Kepler, 36, of Fort Wayne and formerly of Niles, Mich., died at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday in Veterans Hospital, of injuries suffered in a fight on Jan. 25.

Police investigation is incomplete, but John Crnkovich, 39, also of Fort Wayne, has been arrested on a preliminary charge of assault and battery with intent.

Kepler  and Crnkovich allegedly fought on a downtown street and Crnkovich knocked Kepler down. In fall, the victim struck his head against a parking meter post, and or on the concrete sidewalk.

Death was attributed to internal head injuries, complicated by pneumonia.

* * *

MR. KEPLER, a Korean War veteran, was born, March 21, 1927, in Marion, Ind. He moved to Fort Wayne from Niles two years ago.

Survivors include his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Applegate, Niles; three brothers, James, Buchanan, Mich., Howard, Fort Wayne, and Donald, Marion, and six sisters, Mrs. Ruth Gephart and Mrs. Helen Beachout, both of Monroeville, Ind., Mrs. Elsie Bush and Mrs. Pearl Ebert, both of Marion, and Mrs. Phyllis Antisdel and Mrs. Betty Crespo, both of Niles.

Funeral services will be conducted  at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Pifer Funeral Home, Niles. The Rev. Marvin Arnold, pastor of the Niles Christian Faith Tabernacle, will officiate. Graveside rites conducted by American Legion Post No. 26 will follow in Silverbrook Cemetery, there.

Friends will be received at the funeral home after 7 p.m. Friday.

Howard E. Kepler
Jan. 3, 1925-April 23, 1974

Niles Daily Star, Monday, April 29, 1974, page 2, col. 7, microfilm Niles District Library

NILES--Howard E. Kepler, 48, of 101 1/2 E. Main St., died April 23, in Marion, Ind., where he was a patient in a Veterans Administration hospital.

Born Jan. 3, 1925, in Marion, he had lived in this area most of his life. He was a veteran of World War II.

Surviving are two brothers, James of Buchanan and Donald of Marion, Ind.; six sisters, Betty Delacruz and Mrs. Phyliss Antisdale, both of Niles, Mrs. Ruth Gephart of Convoy, Ohio, Pearl Ebert and Mrs. Elsie Bush, both of Marion, and Helen Scott of Monroeville, Ind., and his mother, Mrs. Lucy Applegate of Niles.

Graveside services will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday in Silverbrook Cemetery with Capt. Herman Miller of the Salvation Army of Niles officiating.

Friends may call after 7 tonight at the Pifer Chapel of the Swem-Smith Funeral Home.