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.

Renshaw, Harriett (Makepeace)

Harriet Renshaw
Sept. 9, 1886-Jan. 5, 1919

Niles Daily Sun, Monday, January 6, 1919, page 1, col. 5, microfilm Niles District Library

DEATH CLAIM YOUNG MATRON
Mrs. James Renshaw, Aged 32 Years, Mother of Five Children, Succumbs to Pneumonia at Parents' Home.

Mrs. Harriett Renshaw, aged 32 years, wife of Lieutenant James L. Renshaw, died Sunday afternoon at 4:40 o'clock at the home of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. C.F. Makepeace, 722 Maple street, after a brief illness with pneumonia. Mrs. Renshaw came to Niles from Chicago on Christmas day for a visit and soon after became ill.  Prior to coming to Niles, Mrs. Renshaw had been a patient in a hospital in Chicago.  Five little children, the oldest 10 years, and the youngest, 4 years, are left motherless by her death. They have been at the home of their grandparents here for several weeks.

Mrs. Renshaw was born in Portsmouth, O., Sept. 9, 1886. Thirteen years ago she was married to Mr. Renshaw at Trafford City, Pa., Several years ago the family moved to Niles.  About a year ago they moved to Chicago.

Besides her husband and children, Mrs. Renshaw is survived by her parents and two brothers. The latter are Edwin L. Makepeace of Newport, R.I., and Harold Makepeace of Niles.

Mr. Renshaw arrived in Niles from Chicago Sunday. He has been stationed at Camp Taylor, Kentucky.

The funeral arrangements have not been completed.

Niles Daily Star, Monday, January 6, 1919, page 1, col. 6, microfilm Niles District Library

PNEUMONIA IS FATAL TO MRS. RENSHAW

Mrs. Harriet Renshwa, only daughter of Mr.a nd Mrs. Charles Makepeace, and wife of Lieut. Jas. L. Renshaw, died at the home of her parents, 733 Maple street Sunday afternoon at 4:40 o'clock, aged 32 years, three months and one week. The cause of death was pneumonia.

She is survived by her parents and two brothers, Edwin L. at Newport, R.I. and Harold E. at home; by the husband, Lieut.James L. Renshaw, stationed at Camp Taylor, Louisville, Ky., and by five little children, James Milo Vaughn, aged 10 years, Thelma Annetta, aged 8; Orville Makepeace, aged 7; Norman W., aged 5; and Dorothy Yvaun, 3.

She was married to Lieut. Renshaw at Thafford City, Pa., April 27, 1906.

Funeral notice later.

Niles Daily Star, Tuesday, January 7, 1919, page 4, col. 1, microfilm Niles District Library

Funeral services for Mrs. Harriet Renshaw will be held tomorrow afternoon at 2 o'clock from the  home of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Makepeace, 722 Maple street. Rev. E.G. Lewis will officiate. Burial will take place in Silver Brook cemetery.

Hubler, Charles E.

Charles E. Hubler
July 14, 1890-Oct. 13, 1963


Funeral services for Charles E. Hubler, 73, of 135 Forest St., will be conducted at 2 p.m. Tuesday in the Kiger Funeral Home. The Rev. John P. MacLachlan, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, will officiate. Burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery.

He died at 1 a.m. Sunday in the Oblong Clinic, Oblong, Ill., where he had been a patient since Sept. 23.  He had been ill several years.

Mr. Hubler was born July 14, 1890 in Warsaw, Ind.  He came to Niles from Chicago in 1955.

Survivors include his widow, Anna B.; three daughters, Mrs. J.F. Everling, Michigan City, Mrs. R.C. Lemon, Vancouver, B.C., and Dr. Dorothy Hubler, Oblong; two sisters, Miss Frances Hubler, Chicago, and Miss Mary Laurene Hubler, Brookline, Mass.; a brother, John C., Mokena, Ill.; and seven grandchildren.

Friends are being received at the funeral home.


Niles Daily Star, Monday, October 14, 1963, page 2, col. 1, microfilm Niles District Library

Ausmus, Anna Martha

Anna Martha Ausmus
April 29, 1864-March 13, 1944


ANNA AUSMUS, 79, STRICKEN MONDAY

 

Mrs. Anna Martha Ausmus, 79, of 1405 North Fifth street, died in her home Monday afternoon at 5:30 of a cerebral hemorrhage. Although she was in ill health two years, her condition had been serious only four days.

She was born in Germany April 29, 1864, and had lived in Niles the last 60 years.  She was married May 1, 1884, in Niles to George A. Ausmus, who died in 1920.

Surviving are two daughters, Mrs. Bessie Goodsell, Niles, and Mrs. Alice Evans, Jackson; a son, Henry Ausmus, Niles, and a sister, Mrs. Jessie Swartz, Marcellus; seven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

Friends may call at the Rutherford Funeral home where services will be conducted at 2 Thursday by Dr. Guy W. Simon, pastor of the Presbyterian church, of which she was a member.  Burial will be in Silverbrook cemetery.


Niles Daily Star, Tuesday, March 14, 1944, page 2, col. 5, microfilm Niles District Library

Ausmus, Adam

Adam Ausmus
Feb. 18, 1864-March 6, 1944

Niles Daily Star, Tuesday, March 7, 1944, page 2, col. 8, microfilm Niles District Library

ADAM AUSMUS, 80, CONTRACTOR, DIES

Adam Ausmus, 80, a resident of Niles for 75 years, died in his home 1201 North Sixth street, at 12:30 Monday afternoon after an illness of seven weeks.

Born in Germany Feb. 18, 1864, he came to Niles at the age of five. Until his retirement, he was a building contractor.

Only survivor is a daughter, Mrs. Rex Leach, Niles. Four other children and eight brothers and sisters preceded him in death.

He was a member of St. John's Evangelical and Reformed church.

Friends may call at the home where funeral srvices will be conducted Thursday at 2:30 by the Rev. Theo Eisen.  Burial will be in Silverbrook cemetery.

 

Niles Daily Star, Wednesday, March 8, 1944, page 2, col. 3, microfilm Niles District Library

PALLBEARERS

George L, George F., Charles, Jr., Authur and Henry Ausmus, and Ernest Timm, Niles, will be pallbearers at funeral services for Adam Ausmus, who died Monday afternoon.  Services are to be conducted in his home as 1201 North Sixth street at 2:30 Thursday afternoon by the Rev. Theo Eisen with burial at Silverbrook cemetery.

Evick, David A.

David A. Evick
May 7, 1851-Jan. 8, 1919


Niles Daily Sun, Wednesday, January 8, 1919, page 4, col. 3, microfilm Niles District Library

DAVID EVICK DEAD AFTER A LONG ILLNESS

 

David Evick, a well known citizen of Niles, died this morning about 9:40 o'clock at his home on Cass street, after a prolonged illness from tuberculosis. While he has been ill for more than a year, his condition become critical last Sunday and he gradually grew weaker until the end came. A more extended obituary will be given tomorrow.

The funeral arrangements will also be made tomorrow. Private Carl Evick, son of the deceased, has been in France, but in his last letter he requested the family not to write to him there again as he expected to leave for the United States at once, and it is not unlikely that he is now in an eastern camp. Besides the son, Mr. Evick leaves one daughter, Ardele, who resides at home. A widow also survives.


Niles Daily Sun, Thursday, January 9, 1919, page 4, col. 2, microfilm Niles District Library

FUNERAL SERVICES FOR DAVID EVICK TOMORROW


David Evick passed away Jan. 8, at 9:40 a.m. at his home on No. 2 Cass street after a long and tedious illness.   He had been suffering from tuberculosis for the past two years.
He was born in 1851 in Rush county, Indiana, four miles west of Clarksburg, on a farm. He came here with his parents in 1852 and has spent his entire life in this city.  He was a lather by trade.
Besides his wife, he is survived by one son, Carl, who is now overseas, and by one daughter, Ardella, at home, and also by two brothers and three sisters of whom Willliam Evick and Mrs. Camp are of this city.
Funeral services will be held at 2 o'clock Friday afternoon from the Price's chapel. Dr. E.G. Lewis will officiate. Interment will occur at Silver Brook cemetery.

Davis, Miloman

Miloman Davis
June 22, 1942-March 15, 1944


Davis Baby Dies; Funeral Thursday

 

Miloman Davis, 21-month-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Elisha Davis, 317 North Sixth street, died in his home at 9 this morning after a short illness.

He was born in Niles June 22, 1942. Surviving are four sisters, Evelyn, Mary, Bessie, and Emily; and five brothers, Isaac, Thomas, Sherman, Walter and John Arthur.

Private funeral services will be held in the Price and Kiger chapel Thursday.


Niles Daily Star, Wednesday, March 15, 1944, page 2, col. 6, microfilm Niles District Library

Fox, Robert Leroy

Robert Leroy Fox
May 20, 1929-Oct. 3, 1963


NILESITE INJURED FATALLY

Robert L. Fox Dead; Brother Faces Charges

Victim's Wife Refused to Ride With Pair From County Hospital

 

ROBERT LEROY Fox, 34, of 620 Sycamore St., was injured fatally in a one-car accident at 9:16 p.m. Thursday on Dean's Hill Road, about three-fourths of a mile east of Berrien Springs.

The victim's brother, Delbert D. Fox Jr., 1912 S. 3rd St., driver of the car, is in "fair" condition in Berrien County Hospital, Berrien Center, with multiple injuries to the head, arm, back and face.

The accident is still under investigation by the Berrien County sheriff's department and the driver of the car will be held for investigation of reckless homicide upon his release from the hospital, according to Undersheriff Joseph Heward.

* * *

THE FOX brothers were returning to Niles from the Berrien County Hospital where they went to pick up the dead man's wife, Marjorie, and their infant daughter, Tammy, who was born there this week.

Shefiff's deputies said Mrs. Fox refused to go home with the pair when they showed up after drinking intoxicants. Hospital officials said Mrs. Fox telephoned her parents who took her and the infant girl home, leaving the Fox brothers to drive back here alone.

Fox' death was the 34th traffice[sic] fatality of the year in Berrien County, compared to 38 traffic deaths on the same date last year.

* * *

INVESTIGATING officers said Delbert Fox was driving south on Dean's Hill Road at a "high rate of speed" and failed to negotiate a curve.

His car, which was demolished, left the road and skidded along the shoulder before knocking over a mailbox. The auto then skidded sideways into a telephone pole guy wire.

At this point, the automobile left the ground and struck a tree nine feet off the ground, bounced back to earth and struck a second tree before coming to rest with the driver pinned behind the steering wheel and his brother beside him in the front seat.

Dr. Ralph D. Gustin, deputy medical examiner from Berrien Springs, ruled the death accidental, due to shock, hemorrhaging and a broken neck.

* * *

MR. FOX was born May 20, 1929, in Berrien Springs.

Survivors include his widow, Marjorie; two daughters, Donna and Tammy, and three sons, Robert Jr., Bryan and Todd, all at home; another daughter, Lillian, Buchanan; his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Delbert Fox Sr.; a brother, Delbert Jr., Niles; two sisters, Mrs. Gloria McKamey, Rushville, Ind.,  and Mrs. Mary Jane Harker, Jackson; his grandmother, Mrs. Minnie Fox, Berrien Springs.

Funeral services will be conducted at 2 p.m. Monday in the Pifer Funeral Home. The Rev. Richard Fraser, pastor of St. John's United Church of Christ (Evangelical and Reformed), will officiate. Burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery.

Friends will  be received at the funeral home beginning Saturday evening.


Niles Daily Star, Friday, October 4, 1963, page 1, col. 8, continued Page 2, col. 3-4, microfilm Niles District Library