Pius Hornstein

TIOGA -- Services for Pius Hornstein, 78, Tioga, will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Thomas Catholic Church, Tioga, with the Revs. Eugene Hornstein and Father Dignan officiating. Burial will be in United Cemetery, Tioga, with military rites by Tioga American Legion Post No. 139.

Visitation will be from 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. today at Fulkerson Funeral Home, Tioga, and will continue at the church one hour before services. A rosary service will be said at 7:30 tonight at the funeral home.

Pius Hornstein was born Oct. 5, 1920, at Rugby, the son of Bernard and Elizabeth (Schiff) Hornstein. He attended a rural elementary school near Rugby and graduated from Mohall High School. He was inducted into the U.S. Army on July 13, 1942, at Fort Snelling, Minn., and served with the Fifth Army as a surgical technician in the European Theater. He received the Bronze Star Medal. Bronze Service Arrowhead, and the Good Conduct Medal. He was discharged on Oct. 2, 1945, at Camp McCoy, Wis., with the rank of sergeant.

He attended the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, for two years and began his employment with the Pierce County Tribune in Rugby, learning the newspaper trade from his brother, Frank, who was owner-publisher of the paper.

On Oct. 29, 1955, he was united in marriage with Rose Brossart at the Little Flower Catholic Church in Rugby. On July 1, 1961, Pius and Rose purchased the Tioga Tribune in Tioga, where Pius was publisher-editor until October 1995, when they sold the newspaper.

The North Dakota Newspaper Association inducted him into the 50 Year Club in 1995. He was a stockholder with Greater Northwest Publishing, Inc., and Franklin Printing, both of Minot, and was instrumental in the transition from sand to grass greens at the Tioga Golf Course, serving as president of the club for three years. In 1965, he started KTGO Radio in Tioga and in July, 1972, purchased the Tioga Theater, which he was operating at the time of his death. He was a former member of the Tioga Hospital Board and the St. Thomas Catholic Church Building Committee. Pius was also a member of the American Legion Post No. 139 in Tioga, the Elks Lodge in Williston, the Tioga Chamber of Commerce, Tioga Golf and Country Club, an honorary life member of Knights of Columbus, Tioga Economic Development, and was a director of the Bank of Tioga. He was also a member of St. Thomas Catholic Church.

Pius died June 1, 1999, in the Tioga hospital.

He was a kind and gentle man, and took pride in his family and community. He enjoyed his grandchildren, golf, movies, and followed current events.

He is survived by his wife, Rose; one son and daughter-in-law, Douglas J. and Michele, Torrance, Calif.; two daughters and sons-in-law, Susan and Steven Bratlien, Tioga, and Sandra and Ervin Nielsen Jr., Bismarck; six grandchildren, Katie and Abby Bratlien, Jennifer, Andrew and Mitchell Nielsen, and Paula Rose Hornstein; two nephews who made their home with the Hornstein family, Stephen Hornstein, Minneapolis, and Matthew Hornstein and his wife, Karla, and their children, Cole and Amber, Fargo; three brothers, Roy, Minot, the Rev. Eugene, Richardton, and Tony, Cheyenne, Wyo.; two sisters and one brother-in-law, Sister Joan Marie, Omaha, Neb., and Leigh and Sammy Powell, Garden Grove, Calif.; one uncle; and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; and four brothers, Frank, Peter, John and Joseph.