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.

Young, Lyle E.

Lyle E. Young
July 26, 1890
-August 13,  1965

TWO EX-NILESITES DIE AT WITCHITA[SIC] HOSPITAL


    TWO LIFElong friends and former Niles residents, Perley J. Steinbauer, 78, and Lyle E. Young, 75, died within 30 minutes of each other Friday night in Wichita, Kan.
    Double funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the First Presbyterian Church, with the Rev. John P. MacLachlan, officiating.  Burial for both will be in Silverbrook Cemetery.
    Friends of both men will be received after 7 pm. today at the Pifer Funeral home.
    The only children of both men, Dr. Robert Steinbauer and the former June Young married each other and both Mr. Young and Mr. and Mrs. Steinbauer made their homes with Dr. and Mrs. Steinbauer in Kansas.
    Both men were retired employes of the Niles Board of Public Works.
    Mr. Steinbauer was born Oct. 18, 1886, north of Niles and lived here all his life until he and his wife moved to Wichita three years ago.  He retired from the Board of Public Works in 1955 after 30 years of service there.
    He is survived by his widow, Myrta; his son, Dr. Robert Steinbauer; a brother, Olin L. Steinbauer, Niles; and two grandchildren.
    He was a past master of the Bend of the River Grange, a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Wichita.  He pitched for the South Bend Blues baseball team and played with the Steinbauer Brothers dance orchestra years ago.
    Mrs. Young was born July 26, 1890, on the Young homestead west of Niles.  He lived there all his life until he moved to Wichita two years ago.
    His wife, Bertha, died in 1954.  Mrs. Young retired from the Board of Public Works in 1956.
    He is survived by his dauthter[sic], Mrs. Robert Steinbauer and two grandchildren.
    Mr. Young was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Niles and a life member of the St. Joseph Valley Lodge 4, Free and Accepted Masons.

(Source:  Niles Daily Star, Monday, August 16, 1965, page 2, col. 5 & 6, microfilm Niles District Library)

Steinbauer, Perley J.

Perley J. Steinbauer

October 18, 1886-August 13, 1965

TWO EX-NILESITES DIE AT WITCHITA[SIC] HOSPITAL

    TWO LIFElong friends and former Niles residents, Perley J. Steinbauer, 78, and Lyle E. Young, 75, died within 30 minutes of each other Friday night in Wichita, Kan.
    Double funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the First Presbyterian Church, with the Rev. John P. MacLachlan, officiating.  Burial for both will be in Silverbrook Cemetery.
    Friends of both men will be received after 7 pm. today at the Pifer Funeral Home.
    The only children of both men, Dr. Robert Steinbauer and the former June Young married each other and both Mr. Young and Mr. and Mrs. Steinbauer made their homes with Dr. and Mrs. Steinbauer in Kansas.
    Both men were retired employes of the Niles Board of Public Works.
    Mr. Steinbauer was born Oct. 18, 1886, north of Niles and lived here all his life until he and his wife moved to Wichita three years ago.  He retired from the Board of Public Works in 1955 after 30 years of service there.
    He is survived by his widow, Myrta; his son, Dr. Robert Steinbauer; a brother, Olin L. Steinbauer, Niles; and two grandchildren.
    He was a past master of the Bend of the River Grange, a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Wichita.  He pitched for the South Bend Blues baseball team and played with the Steinbauer Brothers dance orchestra years ago.
    Mrs. Young was born July 26, 1890, on the Young homestead west of Niles.  He lived there all his life until he moved to Wichita two years ago.
    His wife, Bertha, died in  1954.  Mrs. Young retired from the Board of Public Works in 1956.
    He is survived by his dauthter[sic], Mrs. Robert Steinbauer and two grandchildren.
    Mr. Young was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Niles and a life member of the St. Joseph Valley Lodge 4, Free and Accepted Masons.

(Source:  Niles Daily Star, Monday, August 16, 1965, page 2, col. 5 & 6, microfilm Niles District Library)

Cummings, Helen

Mrs. Helen L. Cummings
1893-1965

    Funeral services for Mrs. Helen L. Cummings, 72, of 715 N. 4th St., will be conducted at 2 p.m., Wednesday in the Pifer Funeral Home.  The Rev. Earl J. Wickstrom, pastor of the First Baptist Church, will officiate.  Burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery.  She died at 9:25 p.m., Sunday in Pawating Hospital, where she had been a patient since July 17.
    Mrs. Cummings was born April 3, 1893, in Michigan City, Ind. and came to Niles from that city in 1922.  Her husband, Quincy, died in 1954.    
    Survivors include two daughters, Mrs. Yvonne Hanson and Mrs. Joan Wright, both of Niles; two sons, Quincy Jr., Niles, and Theodore, Davenport, Iowa; a brother, George Schwager, Chicago; a sister, Mrs. Alma Wandry, Niles; and 13 grandchildren.
    She was a member of the Golden Age Club, the War Mothers, and the Auxiliary of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Trainmen.
    Friends will be received at the funeral home after 7 p.m. today.

(Source: Niles Daily Star, Monday, August 16, 1965, page 2, col. 6, cont. Page 13, col. 7, microfilm Niles District Library)

Pagin, Lemuel

Lemuel Pagin
Died February 3, 1892

Lemuel Pagin died yesterday forenoon about 11: 30 o' clock at his residence on Hickory Lane after a long illness with dropsy and asthma, aged 70 years and 23 days.  He leaves a wife and three children, Joseph and Oliver and Mrs. Fannie Cole.  The funeral will take place tomorrow at 1 o'clock from his late residence.

(Source: Niles Daily Sun, Thursday, February 4, 1892, page 4, col. 3, microfilm Niles District Library)

 Also

Lemuel Pagin, long a resident of this city, died Wednesday at 11:30 at the home of his son, Joseph Pagin.  His age was abut 60 years.  Mr. Pagin has been quite ill all winter.
    Drs. Samuel and Daniel Pagin, of South Bend, Mrs. Elizabeth Mars of Chicago, and Miss Lydia Marsh, of Mich. City, were here in attendance to the funeral of their brother, Lemuel Pagin.

(Source: Niles Mirror, Wednesday, Febuary 10, 1892, page 3, col. 2, microfilm Niles District Library; also Niles Daily Star, Wednesday, February 3, 1892, page 3, col. 2.)

McCleaf, Mrs. Lydia

Ms. McCleaf (Lydia)

Died February 7, 1892

            Mrs. McCleaf, died of a complication of diseases, Sunday morning, at the residence of her daughter, Mrs. Enoch Flegal, on Hickory Lane, aged 78 years.  The funeral was held at the residence Tuesday p.m. at 2 o’clock.

 (Source:  Niles Mirror, Wednesday, February 10, 1892, page 3, col. 1, microfilm Niles District Library)

McOmber, Mrs. Robert (Sybil M.)

Mrs. Robert (Sybil M.) McOmber

1850-1919

 MRS. M’OMBER SUCCUMBS TO APOPLEXY

About the Same Time Her Sister is Hurt in Accident

            Mrs. Robert McOmber died at her home, 812 North Fourth street this morning at 9:15 o’clock.  Last Monday afternoon she was stricken with apoplexy while feeding her chickens.  After lying prostrate in the rain for two hours she was found by her husband when he came home from his work at 6 o’clock.  Up to the time of her demise she did not regain consciousness.

            Deceased was born at Lodi, Seneca county, New York, July 3, 1850. April 2, 1876, she was married to Robert McOmber of this city.  Three children were born to them, Arthur, of Kalamazoo; Mrs. Filbert Williams of Niles and one who died in infancy.  She is also survived by two sisters, Mrs. Francis Smith and Mrs. Elvira Battles, of New York state, and one brother, Wilbur Salisbury, of Los Angeles, Calif.

            Mrs. McOmber took an active interest in the affairs of the Methodist church, of which she was a devoted member.  She also belonged to the Rebekah and Maccabee lodges of this city.

            Funeral announcement will be made later.

            Shortly after the time of her death a telegram was received which conveys the sad news that Mrs. McOmber’s sister, Mrs. Francis Smith, had been seriously injured in an automobile accident in New York.

 (Source: Niles Daily Star, Friday evening, February 28, 1919, page 1, col. 3, microfilm Niles District Library)

Coolidge, Sarah 1820-1884

Sarah Coolidge
Dec. 9, 1820-Dec. 30, 1884

Niles Weekly Mirror, Wednesday, December 31, 1884, page 5, col. 4, microfilm Niles District Library

--We stop the press to announce that Mrs. Judge H. Coolidge died on Tuesday at 11 a.m.

 

Niles Daily Star (Niles, Berrien Co., MI), Thursday, January 1, 1885, page 3, col. 2, microfilm Niles District Library

Mrs. Sarah Coolidge, widow of the late Ex-Judge H.H. Coolidge, died Tuesday, at her home in Niles.

 

Buchanan Record, Thursday, January 1, 1885, page 3, col. 2, microfilm Niles District Library

Mrs. Sarah Coolidge, widow of the late Ex-Judge H.H. Coolidge, died Tuesday, at her home in Niles.

 

Niles Democrat, Saturday, January 3, 1885, page 5, col. 2, microfilm Niles District Library 

The death of Mrs. Coolidge, wife of the late Judge H.H. Coolidge, which occurred on Tuesday morning last, called forth universal expressions of regret and sorrow.--Mrs. Coolidge had been confined to her room for some months. Indeed, since the death of her brother, Dr. A.J. Mead, followed soon after that by that of her beloved husband, she had never seemed to rally, and she peacefully followed her most cherished ones to the final rest. Mrs. Coolidge was a lady of rare social qualities and had endeared herself in a peculiar way to all with whom she came in contact. Her life was one of vast usefulness and the broadest charity, and none could have passed away who will be more sincerely mourned for than she.