Dorchester Times: Dorchester's Bill Moser Passes At 82; Funeral Is Friday

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Dorchester's Bill Moser Passes At 82; Funeral Is Friday

UPDATE: City Slickers Bar and Grill reports that the business was contacted by the family of Bill Moser will be making their way back to Dorchester for Friday's funeral and would like to have a "toast" to honor Bill at City Slicker's at 6 p.m. this Friday. Come down and share your memories and have an Old Milwaukee Light in honor of Bill.

Dorchester native and longtime resident William (Bill) Earl Moser, age 82, died on October 23, 2015 in Wheaton, Minn., surrounded by his loving children. Bill was born on October 11, 1933, in Dorchester to Earl and Louise (Dainton) Moser. Bill grew up with two younger brothers, helping on his parent’s farm. He graduated from DHS in 1952. Shortly after high school he joined the US Army and was stationed at Fort Bragg NC. Bill was married to Melva Harling in 1953 and together they had five children.

Bill married Mabel McMahon in 1987. Their large combined family was a source of great pride and pleasure for both of them; and the reason for their many, many road trips across the country. They traveled to meet new grandchildren; and attend weddings, graduations, birthdays and family reunions. Bill and Mabel followed Nebraska Cornhusker sports and especially looked forward each fall to the women’s volleyball season. They also loved the state parks in Nebraska and in their retirement made a point of visiting every one.

Bill was active in his community and church. He was a former Dorchester mayor. He was a 60-year member of the American Legion in Dorchester and served in several local, district and area officer positions. He was a lifetime member and lay leader in the United Methodist Church of Dorchester. Bill was an avid baseball fan and a successful coach for the Dorchester American Legion baseball team for many years. Bill was a small business owner and worked in a variety of sales and service positions over the years. He retired from the Dorchester Co-op.

Bill was preceded in death by his parents, wife Mabel, and brother Richard Moser. He is survived by his brother Robert (Kaye) Moser, Mount Holly Springs, PA; sister-in-law Karen Moser, Bellevue, NE; children, Christeen (Gene) Borsheim, Wheaton, MN; Carmen Moser, Fergus Falls, MN; Chere (Ed) Rikimoto, Wheaton, MN; Clay (Angela) Moser, Los Angeles, CA; Candice (Tony) Hasbargen, Wheaton, MN; thirteen grandchildren, fourteen great-grandchildren; nieces and nephews; and, by Mabel’s seven children, Frances McMahon, Green River, WY; Mike (David Sepulveda) McMahon, San Diego, CA; Coleen (Jim) McMahon-Seitz, Greeley, CO; Maureen (Larry) Hop-Hergenreder, Greeley, CO; Kelly (Mike) Gerken, York, NE; Shannon (Mal Elkins) Monson, Greeley, CO; Erin Hall, Rock Springs, WY; seventeen grandchildren, and twenty-two great grandchildren

Visitation will be held from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. on Thursday October 29 at the Kuncl Funeral Home in Crete, NE. The funeral service will be held at the United Methodist Church in Dorchester, NE on Friday, October 30 at 10:30 a.m. with visitation one hour prior to the service. Interment will be at the Dorchester Cemetery.

Click here to see Bill's obituary and memorial video.

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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."