Marguerite is the daughter of
Lloyd Feather Bliss and his
wife Cecile Gay Upham, of
Buchanan, Berrien County Michigan.
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Marguerite was born on the Bliss family
farm, on Geyer Road, N.-N.E. of Buchanan,
Berrien County Michigan.
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Marguerite was married on Aug. 29, 1942
in Niles, Berrien County Michigan,
to Rayford Crocker (1922-2013)
(Isaac Rayford Crocker), the son
of John "Thomas" Crocker and
his wife Sarah "Madge" Haley.
Rayford worked for the Niles
Police Department, and was the
Chief of Police from 1968-1972.
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Rayford Crocker was named Chief of Police
in Niles, Michigan on Dec. 20, 1968.
Rayford joined the police force in 1947.
He was promoted to Sergeant in 1955, and
became Captain on August 10, 1959.
He was named Chief of Police in 1968.
Rayford, a veteran of 26 years,
retired on Oct. 7, 1972, at the age
of 49, and purchased a partnership
in a Niles real estate firm in Niles,
and worked as a broker.
Rayford served for 37 months during
World War II (from 1942-1946),
as a Sergeant in the
U.S. Army Air Corps. He was also a
high school referee for 17 years.
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Many of the Bliss family Christmas
get-togethers were held in the F. O. P.
Park in Niles, Michigan.
---
Rayford was born Oct. 6, 1922, in
Cannon County Tenn., and moved with
his family to Niles, Michigan at the
age of 5 years (1927). Rayford died on
Nov. 7, 2013, in Florida, age 91.
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After Marguerite died in 1988,
Rayford was remarried on June 30, 1989,
(while visiting his family) in
Berrien County Michigan,
to Mrs. Jo V. Smith, of Wauchula, Florida,
a former nurse.
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Rayford and Marguerite had
one girl and three boys.
Marguerite worked as a telephone
operator at the Bell Telephone
Company in Niles, Berrien Co. Michigan.
They lived at 1625 Regent St., in Niles,
Berrien Co. Michigan, and then retired in
Sebring, Highlands County Florida in 1987.
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Marguerite died of bone cancer, at the
age of 63 years and 8 1/2 months,
in the Walker Memorial Hospital,
in Avon Park, Highlands County Florida.
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Marguerite is buried N.- E. of Niles, MI
in the Mission Hills Memorial Gardens
(in Cass County Michigan), in the
"Garden of Time", Lot # 9, Space 1.
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The following obituary for Marguerite was
published in the "Niles Daily Star"
newspaper, in Niles, Michigan, on Friday,
March 18, 1988, page 2:
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MARGUERITE CROCKER.
Marguerite G. Crocker, 63, 3200 Delaware
Ave., Sebring, Fla., and a former Niles,
[MI] resident, died Wednesday at 4:30
p.m. at Walker Memorial Hospital in
Avon Park, Fla., following an extended
illness.
She was born July 2, 1924 in Niles
[North of Niles, on Geyer Road],
and moved to Florida in 1987. She married
Rayford I. Crocker, a former Niles police
chief, in Niles, [MI] August 29, 1942. He
survives.
She was a retired employee of Bell
Telephone and was a member of the
Wesley United Methodist Church in
Niles, [MI] and Indiana Bell Telephone
retirees group.
Survivors include: a daughter Constance
Stitt of Indialantic, Fla.: three sons,
Robert of Niles, Richard of Seattle, Wa.
and Terry of Cape Neddick, Me.: five
grandchildren: and three sisters,
Barbara Huff of Michigan City, Ind.,
Kathryn Clemans of Buchanan, [MI] and
Frances Batchelor of Englewood, Fla.
Services are Thursday at 11 a.m. in
Wesley Methodist Church, Niles, where
the Rev. Lloyd A. Phillips will
officiate. Burial will be in
Mission Hills Memorial Gardens.
Visitation will not be offered.
Arrangements were made by the
Halbritter Funeral Home.
Memorials may be made to the
Berrien County Cancer Service,
or Niles Community Library.
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Note: Mission Hills Memorial Gardens
is located N.-N.E. of Niles, Michigan
(about half way between Niles and Dowagic),
on Hi-way 51 North, near Sumnerville
(and Pokagon), in Cass County Michigan.
It is directly West
of Cassopolis, Michigan.
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