Dorchester Times: Dorchester Loses Two WWII Vets In Past Week

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Dorchester Loses Two WWII Vets In Past Week

Dorchester, with a population of around 600, has lost two of its decorated World War II veterans and outstanding community members in less than a week.

Harold E. Krivohlavek, 93, passed away last Wednesday, July 29.

Harold attended rural school district 104, walking 1¼ miles for the first 8 years (except when he could hook up the pony to the two wheel sulky). Then he attended and graduated in 1939 from Dorchester High School. He enjoyed 4-H, attending the county fair and the state fair with his livestock. Later he became a 4-H leader. He farmed all his life in Dorchester except for 3 ½ years during World War II. From 1942-1946 he served as a staff sergeant in the South Pacific, in the Northern Solomons and on the island of Luzon in the Philippines in the 112th Radio Intelligence Company. Following the war, he returned home to farm and raise livestock.

He married the love of his life, Virginia McCormick Spanyers, on June 8, 1968. He loved farming with his son Keith and enjoyed raising cattle and going to cattle sales. He liked taking his grandsons to the sales with him to teach them about how to pick out good calves. He loved to play with his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and they all were rocked to Czech songs as babies. He was a member of and attended the Dorchester United Methodist Church. He served on the Saline County Soil conservation board, the Rural Fire Dept. board, and the Pleasant Hill cemetery board. He was very active in the Dorchester American Legion Post #264 and was a member of the VFW, ZCBJ Lodge Tabor #74, and was a Master Mason in Blue Valley Lodge #64 in Wilber. He knew the meaning of loving your country, and he never missed honoring veterans during the Memorial Day services. He also enjoyed teaching young people about patriotism at the school's Veteran's Day programs. He was proud of the fact that he was the oldest man in Dorchester and the oldest Krivohlavek in Nebraska.

He is survived by his beloved wife Virginia of 47 years, daughter and son-in-law Sue and Tom Shaw of Bartlett, son Keith Spanyers and Pam Carlin of Dorchester, daughter and son-in-law Karen and Scott Wiles of Lincoln; and several grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Harold's visitation will be tonight (Tuesday) from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Dorchester United Methodist Church. Memorial service will be 10:30 a.m. tomorrow (Wednesday) at the church. Graveside service and interment with full military honors by Dorchester American Legion Post #264 at Pleasant Hill Cemetery. Memorials: to the family for future designations. Condolences may be left by clicking here.

Edwin M. “Ed” Sanburn, 89, passed away Sunday, August 2. He was born March 8, 1926 in Dorchester to William E. and Edna M. (Britton) Sanburn. He attended and graduated from Dorchester High School in 1943. Ed was drafted into the U.S. Navy on July 24, 1944, and served in the South Pacific Theater until honorably discharged in July of 1946.

He worked for the Western Electric Company in Lincoln from 1946-60. Ed then went to work for the United States Postal Service, first as a clerk and then a Rural Letter Carrier in Dorchester. When the Dorchester routes were consolidated he worked out of the Lincoln Post Office as a City Carrier. He returned to Dorchester in 1976 to serve as the Rural Letter Carrier out of the Dorchester office.

Ed retired from the USPS in April of 1993. He also farmed 200 acres starting in 1949 and retired from farming in the late 1980’s. Ed married E. Elaine Crick in Dorchester on July 19, 1949. To this union they had one son, Robert Edwin. Ed enjoyed spending time with family, gardening and “Intarsia”, which is a form of wood inlaying.

Survivors include: wife, Elaine; son, Bob (Lori) Sanburn, Denton; and grandchildren and great grandchildren.

A celebration of life will be held at 2 p.m. this Friday, August 7, at Dorchester United Methodist Church with Rev. Dr. Paixao Baptista officiating, military honors to follow. Cremation/no viewing. Private family inurnment at Lincoln Memorial Park, Lincoln. Memorials are suggested to the family for future designation. Condolences may be left by clicking here.

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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."