Pius was called by his nick-name, Pete, by his brothers and sisters when growing up on a farm in North Dakota. At 8 years of age he began to learn to play the accordion. Pete ran a trap line during the North Dakota winters as a young boy. He got enough money from this trapping, as a teen, to buy a first class Italian accordion, which he had always wanted. As a young man during the great depression, Pete and a friend rode the rails through the West. They rode the trains in California north from San Bernardino. They lived on oranges and walnuts that had fallen in transport to the train depots. They got a job in Montana picking sugar beets. They finally got back to North Dakota, their starting point. He was in a Coventry, England, hospital after being wounded in the English Channel. His troop ship had hit a German mine in June 1944. Pete had a pretty good sense of humor. About his time hospitalized in Coventry, Pete would remark 'Never saw Lady Godiva!' Pete was in Cleveland at the Grile General Hospital until he was discharged in January 1945. A highlight for him was to see Bob Hope at the Cleveland train station walking to catch a train. Cleveland was Bob Hope's hometown. Pete played the accordion, a piano, or an organ once in a while after the war. He still had a bit of a hankering to play a musical instrument. This comes from his fond memories of playing in a small band around St. Paul, MN in the 1930s. Pete played the accordion, of course, and also would play bass fiddle and drums when needed. This was during the summer at a lounge on a Minnesota lake where the music would carry across to the other side.