Dorchester Times: Former Resident, Businesswoman Carole Sprague Passes At 72

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Former Resident, Businesswoman Carole Sprague Passes At 72

Carole “Fluffy” Sprague, age 72 of York, died Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014 in York with her husband and children by her side.

Many residents of Dorchester still remember Carole as the owner and operator of Conner Garden and Gift Shoppe on main street. This successful business was truly an attribute to the community until it was destroyed by a fire in the early 1980s.

Carole was born on June 15, 1942 to Hazen and Thelma Smith. She grew up in Taylor, Neb., in Loup County, and attended beauty school in Lincoln. She moved to Milford, where she had all four of her children. When her youngest was in school, she moved to Dorchester and opened Conner Garden and Gift Shoppe.

In 1987, she married Jim Sprague and they made their home in Dorchester just west of the Farmers Cooperative elevator. In 2002, they moved to York, where she resumed her passion of painting and gardening. She took pride in her community and often headed up projects such as planting flower boxes in Dorchester, tending the flower garden at East Hill Park in York, and painting beautiful murals at church.

Carole loved being a part of various church groups, garden club and social coffee groups, and she never said no to going to garage sales or a trip to Hobby Lobby. Being with family and friends was what brought her the greatest pleasure.

She is survived by her husband Jim of York; her mother, Thelma Hill of York; her children, Brad (Kerry) Conner of McCool Jct., Stacie Conner and friend Chad Becwar of Lincoln, Steve (Angie) Conner of Seward and Nicki (Erik) Rivers of Lincoln; step- children, Kathie Vocasek of Pickrell and Kristine Briese of Lincoln; grandchildren, Mayson Conner and Morgan Conner both of McCool Jct., Andrew (Jennifer) Crees of York and their children Joel and Brennen, Sierra Crees and her fiancé Kory Einspahr of Lincoln, Brad Ricenbaw of Cordova, Ashton Conner and Dane Conner both of Seward and Lauren Rivers and Hayden Rivers both of Lincoln and step-grandchildren, Amanda Vocasek and Jordan Sprague of Lincoln.

Also surviving is Carole’s sister, Jeanette (Richard) Lewis of Taylor; her brothers, Leland (Dot) Smith of Foster, Mo., David (Susan) Smith of Norfolk and Dan (Lynn) Smith of Council Bluffs, Iowa; nieces, nephews and many other relatives and friends.

She was preceded in death by her father, Hazen Smith; sister, Elaine Harris and granddaughter, Conner Rivers.

Memorial services will be held 2:30 p.m., Friday, Nov. 21, 2014 at the First United Methodist Church in York with the Reverend Art Phillips officiating. Memorials may be directed to the church or to the family for a bench to be placed at East Hill Park in her honor. No viewing or visitation. Online condolences may be sent to her family at www.metzmortuary.com.

Metz Mortuary in York is handling arrangements.

2 comments:

AnonymousNovember 20, 2014 at 11:14 AM
so sorry to hear these, brad,stacie, steve and niki, god bless!
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AnonymousNovember 20, 2014 at 1:11 PM
She was such a sweet person and will be missed.
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Dorchester: A Good Little Family Town

Dorchester, Nebraska (est. population 630) is located in northern Saline county. Close in proximity to Interstate 80, Dorchester is only 25 minutes from the state capital of Lincoln (est. population 250,000) and about 55 minutes from Omaha (metro population 725,000).

Dorchester's median resident age is 37 years. In 2005, Dorchester had a median family income of approximately $35,600. The median house value was about $63,000. About 95 percent of Dorchester residents commute to work via Interstate and highways.

The village has a quality public school, which received a $4.1 million expansion and modernization in 2008; it offers a small classrooms and individualized attention. Total enrollment of grades K-12 is around 230-250 students.

Ancestries of the Dorchester area are primarily German (42.4%), Czech (24.9%), Irish (12.5%), English (5.4%), and Dutch (4.9%).

Dorchester Historical Facts

* On July 4, 1871, the railroad reached Dorchester.
* Incorporated in 1881, Dorchester's population grew from 200 to 500 by 1882.
* In 1882, Dorchester had 90 buildings, 35 of which were businesses or public facilities. Brick buildings lined both sides of Washington Avenue for two blocks.
* Dorchester's longest-running newspaper was The Dorchester Star, which was published until the late 1940s.
* By 1889, Dorchester's population is said to have reached 800, while the town housed an opera house, a two-story brick schoolhouse with a bell tower, and four churches.
* By the 1910s, Dorchester had electricity, a water tower and a fire department.
* Dorchester's main arteries, Highways 6 and 33, were graveled in the 1940s.
* Dorchester's first irrigation well was drilled on Chris Weber's farm and rural electrification was finished following WWII.

A Village with History

Dorchester is one of the "alphabet towns" on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad line built west from Lincoln. The town site was selected for its pleasant location in the northern part of Saline County, about eight miles west of Crete. This situation is an attractive one, being on the level prairie land, midway between the West Blue River and Turkey Creek. The first named stream is three miles north, and the latter about the same distance south from the town. Dorchester was platted in 1870 and incorporated in 1881. The name "Dorchester" came from either for a suburb of Boston by that name or a town in England. No one is sure. Two of the very first settlers were James Seely and Edward McIntyre, who both made Dorchester their permanent home.

Dorchester: In The Beginning

Here is a look at Dorchester around 1890, less than a decade after its official incorporation, as documented by Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska:
* POPULATION: "About 300, and is made up of a substantial and progressive class of citizens, who are moral and industrious. ... The town grew but very little until the year 1879, for the reason that Pleasant Hill, on Turkey Creek, a short distance south, was the county seat and naturally drew a trade for quite a large scope of country."
* BUSINESS: "The business and professional interests of the town are represented by three general merchandise stores, two drug, one grocery, one furniture, two hardware, and two millinery stores, one bank, two restaurants, two hotels, three livery stables, a post office, one newspaper office, two elevators, two lumber yards, two coal yards, two blacksmith shops, two lawyers and four physicians."
* SCHOOL: "The schoolhouse is a good one. The schoolhouse was built in 1872, since which time the public schools have been continually kept up. The present schoolhouse is 24' x 40' in size, two stories high. The school is graded and consists of three departments. The house is found too small, and arrangements will soon be made to increase its size."
* CHURCHES: "There are three substantial churches."
* HOMES: "The residence portion of the village is made up of neat houses of different styles of architecture, but none of them very large."
* NEWSPAPER: "The Dorchester Star, which was established August 21, 1881, by H. C. Bittenbender, who edited it until January 19, 1882, when he sold it to Ryerson & Bullock, the present proprietors. The Star is a bright weekly paper, five-column quarto, in size, and is Republican in politics."