In Memoriam ~ Tony Prom ’55

Anthony (Tony) Laurence Prom, son of Laurence and Edith (Yeadicke) Prom was born Sept. 8, 1937 at the hospital in Harvey, the fifth child in a family of nine sons and three daughters. He died Jan. 19, 2022 in Harvey at age 84.

Funeral Mass will be held 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 25 at St. Cecilia Catholic Church, Harvey. Burial will follow in the church cemetery. Visitation will be Monday at St. Cecilia Catholic Church beginning at 4 p.m. Rosary services will be at 6:30 p.m. with a prayer service following at 7 p.m. at the church.

Tony’s life was centered on family, faith, farming and the Harvey community. His story is the story of Harvey from the mid-20th into the 21st century.

Raised on the homestead farm southeast of Harvey, Tony attended a nearby country school in first grade and then St. Cecilia’s grade school in Harvey, St. John’s Preparatory School at Collegeville, Minnesota, grades 9 through 11; and graduated from Notre Dame Academy, Willow City in 1955. Three years of National Guard service and courses at NDSU and Minot State Teacher’s College followed.

Working the land and milking the cows was the way of life for Tony as he grew up. He was in 4-H, Catholic Youth Organization and church choir. He was active in National Catholic Rural Life Conference where he met his wife.

In 1959, Tony started farming on his own – the farm on which he had been raised – the farm on which his father had been born and raised – the farm his grandfather homesteaded in 1888 – and the farm that was designated a ND Centennial Farm in 1989.

Tony married Junella Mary Gross in Westphalia, Iowa, on Nov. 23, 1960. For the next 61 years, they lived on the family farm, which they purchased, actively farmed and beatified. With Tony’s skills as a carpenter and handyman, and with some additional hired help, Tony and June transformed the homestead by building new, and tearing down old structures and completely remodeling the house. Tony worked his whole life improving the home and farm. Tony planted miles of trees rows to stop soil erosion, which also kept his kids occupied with hoeing. As he moved from livestock to tillable crops, Tony added sunflowers to his rotation in the early ’70s. Tony served in the National Farmers Organization and in the organizational ND Sunflower Council. Since 1989, Tony and June have rented the land. In 1992, Tony began working at the Harvey Farmers Elevator, logging many truck miles around the state before retiring in December 2010.

Tony’s commitment to his Catholic faith was lived through not only his Mass attendance, but also adoration and daily prayer. He was baptized and confirmed at the St. Cecilia Catholic Church where he was a lifetime member. He sang in the choir from youth through the most recent Midnight Mass, served as lector, Eucharistic minister and in the Catholic Order of Foresters. Tony was a 4th Degree Knights of Columbus member.

Tony’s notable community activities included acting in the musical “1776,” and the next year, for Harvey’s Bicentennial celebration, Tony and June sang in the community chorus’s presentation of “I Love America.” He played in the annual Farmer-City Slickers’ basketball game. For many years through 2020, Tony served as clerk/treasurer for Forward Township, which includes the southern outskirts of Harvey.

From the late ’60s through the early ’90s, Tony supported his children and their academic, music, theater, and sports participation in the Harvey schools. He served on the Harvey School Board in the ’80s and got to hand diplomas to two of his daughters at their graduations. His math acumen showed in the stats he kept in his program at the many basketball and football games he attended during his lifetime.

A few things Tony will be remembered for are his quick wit and humor. As his daughter, Annette, noted: “My dad was the strong and silent type, kind-hearted and loyal, full of love, integrity, wit, and wisdom. He lived his faith. He was a great example and loved by so many.”

Tony is survived by his wife June, Harvey; six children: Ken (Kay), St. Paul, MN; Annette (Dean) Bakke, White Bear Lake, MN; Jeanne, Bismarck; Kathleen (Tony Minor), Lynnwood, WA; Curtis (Nicole) Anthony, South Bend, IN.; and Christopher, Bismarck; six grandchildren: Kasey Prom, Honor Heer, Derek (Brianna) Grondahl, Joseph Prom, Nathan Grondahl, and Anthony Prom; five brothers: Greg (Pat), Minneapolis, MN; Al (Bev), Bismarck; Patrick (Carol), Eden Prairie, MN; Tim, Jackson, MN; and Terry (Veronica), Sherburn, MN, and one sister-in-law, Lynn Prom, Fargo.

Tony was preceded in death by two infant sons, Joseph and Laurence Peter; his parents, Laurence and Edith, his brother Mathias; his sisters Theresa Rudnick, Susan Sullivan, and Paula Prom; brothers-in-law Matt Rudnick and Ed Sullivan; and sisters-in-law Sally Prom and Patti Prom.

Share online at www.hertzfuneralhomes.com (Hertz Funeral Homes, Harvey)

Published by The Bismarck Tribune on Jan. 22, 2022.