Dorchester Times: Dorchester's Olga Bruha Passes At 98; Services Wednesday

Saturday, April 9, 2016

Dorchester's Olga Bruha Passes At 98; Services Wednesday

Olga Bruha, age 98, of Dorchester passed away peacefully with family by her side on April 6, 2016. She was born August 5, 1917 to Louis and Mary (Kotil) Nejdl, the second of six children, on a farm near Western, Neb. in Saline County. She attended rural school, District #52, and attended Friend High School through the 9th grade.

At the age of 11, she lost her mother to scarlet fever. Her grandparents moved to the farm for two years to take care of the family. At this time, she was taught how to cook, clean, and take over the family duties at the young age of 13.

On April 20, 1937, she married Emil R. Bruha, Jr., from Dorchester. They met at a polka dance at Tabor Hall. After marriage, they farmed for 18 years southwest of Dorchester and later moved into town with their three daughters, Jeanette, Joan and Judy.

She loved flowers, especially red tulips and roses, and over the years in the spring and summer many bloomed in her back yard. While living on the farm, she worked very hard, milking cows, raising chickens and geese to put food on the table. She always had fruit trees and a huge garden which included lots of canning. Cooking and baking kolaches was a specialty of hers. She was a 4-H leader for several years teaching girls the charm of homemaking. Losing her mother early in life made her the best mother ever to her three daughters.

Olga was employed by Formfit Rogers in Crete as a machine operator for 25 and 1/2 years. She received her gold watch from the company, of which she was very proud of. She also was a member of WFLA Lodge #74 (Tabor Hall) and held an office and helped with activities for 20 years. She received her 75 year pin in 2012 and received her certificate of Honorary Member at the age of 96.

After she retired from Formfit, she loved to travel and visit relation. She visited many states including several states on the west coast and one highlight of her life was taking a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon and seeing the great Hoover Dam. Another fun trip was visiting New York state where her oldest daughter lived at the time, touring the Niagara Falls and Letchworth Park that the WPA built.

Preceded in death by her parents, husband; Emil, parents-in-law; Joe and Blanche Bruha, brothers; Louis, Milo and Emil Nejdl, sister; Irene Wagner, sisters-in-law; Libby Beelar and Evelyn Jirsa.

Olga will be greatly missed by her daughters and families. Surviors include: Daughters; Jeanette Roat and Ron Labenze of Shickley, Joan and Dale Frahm of Dorchester, and Judy and Jack Daniel of rural Denton. Grandchildren and spouses; Steve and Caryn Roat of Stanley, New York; Lynn and Jay Slover of Conesus, New York; Dave Frahm and Nancy Brandt of Seward; Lisa and Ed Moore of Milford; Doug and Kathy Frahm of Elmwood; Jason and Kristin Daniel of Gretna; and Justin Daniel of rural Pleasant Dale; 15 Great-Grandchildren will always remember and miss their dear great-grandmother; sister and brother-in-law; Bertha and Leonard Musilek of Prague, Neb., sisters-in-law; Olga Nejdl of Crete, and Lois Nejdl of Idaho; many nieces and nephews.

Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday, April 13, 2016, at Kuncl Funeral Home in Crete. Visitation will be on Tuesday from 5-8 p.m. with family greeting friends 5-6:30 p.m. at the funeral home. Interment at Dorchester Cemetery. Memorials care of the family for future designation. Condolences may be left here.

1 comment:

AnonymousApril 10, 2016 at 9:10 AM
Much sympathy to Olga's daughters and the rest of her family. We need more Olga's in the world and in our town.
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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."