Posted on: Tuesday, September 11, 2001

Miyako Hori, Kapa'au pie maker, dead at 97

By Hugh Clark
Advertiser Big Island Bureau

KAPA'AU, Hawai'i — Miyako Hori, who helped make the North Kohala bakery famous around the state for its butter apple pies, died Sept. 2 at the Queen's Medical Center. She was 97.

Hori helped her husband, Yoshio, and his uncle manage a family hotel and start up Holy's Bakery around 1930. The business got its name after "Hori" was misspelled on the bakery's chimney, and the family stuck with it ever since.

Over time, the bakery shifted its emphasis from bread to pastries and then its special pies — apple, coconut, peach, custard, pumpkin — that are sold in Hilo and Kona and on Kaua'i and carried as gifts by interisland travelers.

The building that houses the bakery and the old family inn, the Nanbu Hotel, now an office and retail center, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in November 1999.

Despite her age, Hori's death came as a surprise to family members, who were planning a 99th birthday party for her in Las Vegas, said granddaughter Karen Ortlieb. Hori, a picture bride from Hiroshima who was born Nov. 2, 1903, was recovering from a hip injury but appeared otherwise healthy, Ortlieb said.

Hori is survived by her sons, Tokuo, Harry, Richard, Ted and Frank; daughters, Yayoi Sano and Margaret Hori; 20 grandchildren; 29 great-grandchildren and seven great-great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday at Kohala Jodo Mission. A private placement of the ashes will be held later. The family requests casual attire and no flowers.