Maurice Hahn

Maurice Schalliol Hahn, age 97 years, formerly of Niles, Michigan died on Sunday, June 5, 2016 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

He was born on July 21, 1918 in Wakarusa, Indiana to Edward F. and Minnie C. (Schalliol) Hahn. He was graduated from Mishawaka (Indiana) High School, and earned his Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor). He enlisted in the United States Army in 1942, eventually becoming the Master Sergeant over a staff of 55 who were responsible for the payroll of 40,000 recruits. He was honorably discharged as a Veteran of World War II, and continued his education at the U. of M., earning his Master’s degree in Accounting. He began his career with a Certified Public Accountant firm in Ann Arbor, and quickly became a CPA himself. An early assignment to audit Buchanan Steel and the Niles Community Schools led him to move to Niles in 1950 and open Niles’ first CPA office.

Through a series of mergers, Maury became a Managing Partner of Coopers & Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers – PwC) with sixty local employees. He was pleased to mentor many young employees who successfully established their own firms, all following his goal to help clients improve profitability. He completed thirty years of service to the firm, retiring in 1980. In retirement, he served on the Board of Directors of several area manufacturing firms, and continued to advise area foundations and endowments.

Maury was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Niles where he had also served in many elected offices. He has also been a member, officer, and director of The Economic Club of Southwestern Michigan, the Michigan Gateway Community Foundation and its Niles Area Fund, the Niles-Buchanan Club of Rotary International, the Niles-Buchanan YMCA, the Samaritan Counselling Center, and the Four Flags Area Chamber of Commerce. He was a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and both the Indiana and Michigan CPA associations. He was a member of the Advisory Board for Excellence in Accounting Education of the Professor William A. Paton Scholarship Fund at the University of Michigan, serving for over 25 years.

He helped raise funds for the former Pawating Hospital (now Lakeland Hospital – Niles), and was a member of the University of Michigan Alumni Club, the Barron Lake Land Corporation, the Niles Garden Club and Niles Music Club, the former Summit Club of South Bend and Pickwick Club of Niles; and volunteered with the Junior Achievement of South Bend and Mishawaka.

In 1962, Maury served on the Citizens Advisory Board which directed the transition of Benton Harbor’s Community College to become Berrien County’s Lake Michigan College. In 2000, the Four Flags Area Chamber of Commerce recognized Maury as the Niles Man of the Year.

At home, Maury enjoyed sailing his Hobie Cat catamaran, collecting National-Standard braided wire lamps, reading best-seller books, and – most of all – caring for his family.

On August 22, 1948 he married the former Leslie Joyce McVey of Hammond, Indiana with whom he celebrated the forty-second anniversary of their wedding prior to her death on March 5, 1991. Ten years later, on October 19, 2001 in the Manse at First Presbyterian Church he married the former Robinette B. “Bobbie” (Burns) Wilkerson who survives. Also surviving are his children, Glen Ellen (& David) Cope of Saint Louis, Missouri, Cara (& Cecil) Murray of Fair Play, South Carolina, and William (& Lauren) Hahn of Mundelein, Illinois; grandchildren Michael (& Cynthia) Murray, Peter (& Jaclyn) Murray, Ruth Ann Murray, Nathanial Hahn, and Vincent Hahn; Bobbie’s three children and six grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.

In addition to Leslie, Maury was preceded in death by five siblings including an infant, and Erma J. Willman, Frances Francis, Frederick Hahn, and Norman Hahn.

The funeral service for Maury Hahn will be at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 11, 2016 at the First Presbyterian Church of Niles with the Rev. Fran Lane-Lawrence of the church and the Rev. Dr. Ronald H. Wakeman of the First Presbyterian Church of Irwin, Pennsylvania officiating. Committal services will follow at the Silverbrook Cemetery in Niles.

The family will receive relatives and friends on Friday from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. at the Halbritter Funeral Home in Niles. Contributions in memory of Maury may be made to The Foundation of the First Presbyterian Church, 13 South Fourth Street, Niles, Michigan 49120; or to the Niles Area Fund of the Michigan Gateway Community Foundation, 111 Days Avenue, Buchanan, Michigan 49107.