Dorchester Times: Dorchester's Bill Wenz Passes At 65

Saturday, October 28, 2017

Dorchester's Bill Wenz Passes At 65

Dorchester's William "Bill" Michael Wenz passed on October 25, 2017. Services were Monday, Oct. 30, at Kuncl Funeral Home in Crete. He was 65.

Bill passed away at his home in Dorchester from an apparent heart attack. He was born on the 6th day of May, 1952 to William F. Wenz and Jane Anne (Timothy) Wenz in Fort Riley Kansas where his father was stationed while serving during the Korean War. Bill was the second of eight children.

Bill attended Eight Mile Grove, a K-8 country school in Cass County until the family moved to the Seven Oaks Farm east of Union where he and his siblings attended the Nehawka School District. There he participated in football for 4 years and basketball for one year, attaining All Conference status as an offensive lineman his senior year. He also enjoyed his involvement in several all school music productions including “Lil Abner” and “Oklahoma”. He graduated from Nehawka High School in 1970.

Bill married Shannon Colleen Anderson on September 27, 1974, at the United Methodist Church in Milford, Ne. First residing in Plattsmouth, the couple then moved to Friend where they raised their daughter Sarah. Upon purchasing the first of two houses in Dorchester, the Bill Wenz family called this town their home .

Bill Jr. spent most of his working career working with his father in the rendering business both at Aaron Corp in Omaha, and then later helping build Midland By-Products into a regionally recognized rendering facility. Bill learned his mechanical crafts from the ground level up as a maintenance man and then as a foreman for several years before being promoted to the position of vice-president of the company, a position he held until the facility was sold in 1994. Bill managed another rendering facility in Booker, Texas, commuting regularly from his home in Dorchester.

Bill will be remembered as an avid hunter, regularly organizing hunting parties for family and friends. He was a gun and coin collector, enjoyed fishing, golf and was a skilled carpenter. He immersed himself into whatever his current interest was and remained committed to the endeavor until he had mastered it. His varied interests were only exceeded by his willingness to lend a hand to others. If there were tasks to be done or needs to be met, a simple phone call would be sufficient to send him running with tools in hand. Bill kept no ledger. If you needed assistance, he would help. It was really that simple.

William M. Wenz is survived by his daughter Sarah Wenz-Shrestha of McCook, his dear companion, Teresa Salinger of Plattsmouth, his siblings Kathleen (Curt McKean) Wenz of Omaha, James (Mary) Wenz of Roca, Douglas (Deborah) Wenz of Crete, Laura (Gary) Gammel of Crete, Jeffrey (Tammy) Wenz of Crete and Shari (Richard) Tretheway of Lincoln. Bill also has fourteen nieces and nephews who all held a very special place in his heart. He was preceded in death by his mother, Jane Wenz, father, William F. Wenz, his wife, Shannon, and his brother Timothy Wenz.

Bill's wit, his telling of tales, (some fairly tall, to be sure!), his generosity and his humor will be sorely missed by his many close friends, by his family and by some simply gathered to share weekday morning coffee.

For the online obituary or to leave your condolences, click here.

1 comment:

AnonymousOctober 29, 2017 at 8:32 AM
great guy! always enjoyed every visit with him!
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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."