NCBA Past President Tony Hornthal Dies
Louis Phillip (Tony) Hornthal Jr. of Elizabeth City, who served as president of the North Carolina Bar Association and Foundation in 1996-97, died February 7 at the age of 88. A native of Tarboro, he was a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1958) and UNC School of Law (1963).
Hornthal served as a law clerk for Justice William B. Rodman of the N.C. Supreme Court from 1963-64 and served as a staff attorney in the Office of the N.C. Attorney General from 1964-65. After arguing an appeal on behalf of the State of North Carolina before the Supreme Court against Dewey Wells, Hornthal accepted Wells’ invitation to join the Leroy, Wells and Shaw firm in Elizabeth City. The firm merged with Wilson and Ellis in 1985 and Hornthal practiced with Hornthal, Riley, Ellis and Maland until his retirement in 2018.
Over the course of more than 50 years as a North Carolina lawyer, Hornthal held numerous leadership positions within the bar and the Elizabeth City community. Within the NCBA, Hornthal was inducted into the Legal Practice Hall of Fame in 2019 and honored through the establishment of the NCBF Endowment Justice Fund that same year. The Hornthal Justice Fund was announced at a meeting of the First Judicial District Bar in recognition of the fact that he was the first attorney from the seven-county district (Gates, Chowan, Perquimans, Pasquotank, Camden, Currituck and Dare) honored with a Justice Fund.
Hornthal was also a past president of the N.C. Association of Defense Attorneys, which honored him in 2011 as the recipient of the J. Robert Elster Award for Professional Excellence. He served on the Board of Directors of Lawyers Mutual Liability Insurance Company of North Carolina from 1988-2012 and chaired its Claims Committee from 2006-12. He also served on the N.C. Judicial Standards Commission, the N.C. IOLTA Board of Directors, and the Commission on the Future of Justice and the Courts in North Carolina. He served as president of the UNC Law Alumni Association in 1991-92, and received the North Carolina State Bar’s John B. McMillan Distinguished Service Award in 2012.
In service to his community and church, Hornthal served as chair of the Pasquotank-Elizabeth City Governmental Study Commission, as Senior Warden of Christ Episcopal Church, and as president of the Elizabeth City Rotary Club, the Elizabeth City Boys and Girls Club Board of Directors, and the Albemarle Area United Way.
Hornthal is survived by his wife of more than 61 years, the former Harriett Lang of Kinston; son Louis Phillip Hornthal III and his wife, Kristy, of Elizabeth City, son W. Lang Hornthal and his wife, Ann-Patton, of Asheville; and grandchildren L.P., Will, Alex, Ellie, James, Ashe and Walker. He was predeceased by his parents, Mid and L.P. Hornthal, and his brother, Allen.
Access the published obituary.