Oscar Houske, one of the pioneer residents of Bemidji, died yesterday afternoon at his home at 504 Minnesota avenue. The cause of death was tuberculosis, from which he has suffered during the past winter. The remains were prepared for burial and shipped to his old home at Halstad for interment, the Bemidji fire department of which he was a member, escorting them to the Great Northern depot.
Mr. Houske came to Bemidji seven years ago and has lived in the city with his family ever since. He is survived by his wife and two children who live in Bemidji and by his father, four brothers and one sister, who make their home in Halstad. (Pioneer, June 1, 1905)
Matilda “Tilla” Gilbertson was born in 1868 in Fillmore County, Mn. She married Oscar Julius Houske in Polk County on April 8, 1898, and then they moved to Bemidji. After her husband’s death, the family moved to North Dakota.