M. Belle Hobart
July 6, 1888-March 24, 1947
Niles Daily Star, Tuesday, March 25, 1947, page 1, col. 8, microfilm Niles District Library
NILES WOMAN VICTIM OF FIRE
Electrical Storm Hits Orchards, Downing Power Lines
Mrs. Hobart, 58
Dies as Flames
Level Greenhouse
Suffocated by Smoke in
Fire at Height of
Sleet, Electrical Storm
A 58-year-old Niles Township woman suffocated or burned to death shortly before midnight last night as flames destroyed a greenhouse and apartment at the southeast edge of the city.
Victim of the fire which occurred at the height of a sleet and electrical storm was Mrs. M. Belle Hobart, wife of Grover Hobart, proprietor of the greenhouse and long prominent in Berrien Democratic political circles.
Origin Not Ascertained
Investigating Niles firemen and state police today expressed belief that Mrs. Hobart suffocated while sleeping as flames, of unknown origin, swept through the upper portion of the two-story building.
Charred remains of her body, said by firement to be unidentifiable, were removed from the smouldering destruction at 10 a.m. today.
Alone at TIme of Fire
Mrs. Hobart was home alone at the time of the fire. Grover, her husband, was attending a meeting in Elkhart, Ind.
The fire alarm was turned in at 11:55 p.m., Monday by a telephone operator, who had been informed of the fire by area residents.
Flames had enveloped the upper frame living quarter of the building when Niles firemen arrived and several attempts by firemen to gain entrance into the building were blocked by falling debris.
Adjacent Home Saved
Firemen credited a strong west wind with saving the Hobart home, which is located approximately 100 feet toward the northwest of the greenhouse. The home is unoccupied.
State Police Fire Marshal Purlette Hinckley, of Paw Paw, arrived early today to conduct the investigation into the origination of the fire.
It was reported that kerosene stove in the living quarters might have flared up igniting nearby furnishings. No estimate, other than total loss, was made by authorities.
Mrs. Hobart was born July 6, 1888, at Sawyer, and came to Niles in 1918.
Funeral Set Thursday
She is survived by her husband, two brothers, Peter Tatro, Three Oaks, and Frank, of Sawyer, and by a sister, Mrs. Arthur Gutschenritter, 29 North Lincoln avenue, Niles.
Funeral services will be held Thursday, 2 p.m. in the Pifer funeral home with Captain Herbert Jensen, of the Salvation Army, officiating. Burial will be in Silverbrook cemetery.
Friends may call at the Pifer funeral home until noon Thursday.