Dorchester Times: War Hero, Dorchester Native Dale Bruha Passes At Age 89

Saturday, February 10, 2018

War Hero, Dorchester Native Dale Bruha Passes At Age 89

Dale Frank Bruha was born Oct. 25, 1928, in Crete to Frank Jr. and Creolla “Sidy” (Neihart) Bruha, the oldest of three children, and passed away Jan. 29, 2018, at Memorial Hospital in Seward at age 89. Dale attended Glendale Country School southwest of Dorchester, later attending Crete and Dorchester Public Schools. Dale moved with his family to a farm southwest of Dorchester where he enjoyed hunting, fishing and trapping on Turkey Creek. Dale completed his schooling in the military, graduating from Military Police School, Criminal Investigation Command School, Airborne Infantry School and graduating as a parachutist and glider man.

Dale began his military career at an early age during World War II by joining the Army Air Force Auxiliary and later becoming a pilot. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and served in the Pacific Coast area. During the Korean War, Dale served in the U.S. Army with the 82nd Airborne Division and the 11th Airborne Division and volunteered for a newly formed 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team—parachuting behind enemy lines in Korea with an infantry unit. He was awarded the Silver Star Medal for gallantry in action. Dale also was awarded 16 other medals while serving his country in the U.S. Army and in the Nebraska National Guard for more than 20 years.

Upon his return to the states from Korea and Japan, he joined the Lincoln Police Department and was assigned to the detective division as an undercover officer and later assigned to the motorcycle squad. In 1956, he was appointed assistant chief of police with the Crete Police Department, assisting and installing the first two-way radio system.

In 1957, Dale received an appointment as a Nebraska Wildlife Law Enforcement Officer. In 1959, Dale received a commission as a U.S. deputy game warden with the Federal Department of Interior, working three states and in addition, he was involved with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Canada. Dale was also the Nebraska special agent in charge of the Army Criminal Investigation Division.

After his retirement from the Wildlife Service, he was assigned to a tri-county drug task force and finally, after retiring again, he moved to the Whiskey Jack Forest in the Northwest Territory of Ontario, Canada.

Dale was united in marriage to Darlene Jo Brabec in 1953, and to this union two sons were born. After her death, Dale later was blessed with a second marriage in 1993 to Patricia Rixstine. They resided in Milford. Both Dale and Pat enjoyed summers at their Canadian home. Dale was a member of American Legion Posts of Milford and Crete, a life member of Seward and Crete VFWs, 82nd Airborne Division Association, 187th Airborne Regimental Combat

Team Association, Marine Corps League-Cornhusker Detachment, Life Member-National Rifle Association, Crete Masonic Lodge 37, AF & AM, and he attended the Milford United Methodist Church.

Survivors include his wife, Pat; sons and daughter-in-law, Robert and Dean and Joyce Bruha, all of Milford; three granddaughters, Tammy (John) Kliewer of Cameron, Missouri, Cari (Caleb) Nance of Lowell, Arkansas, and Casey Bruha of Omaha; great-grandchildren, John and Sara Kliewer and Lily and Joshua Nance; three step-children, Jeff, David and Kevin Rixstine; seven step-grandchildren and six step-great-grandchildren; brother and sister-in-law, Jack and Ann Bruha of Dorchester; sister and brother-in-law, Carol and Bob Hrdlicka of Milford; several nieces and nephews; and a host of other relatives and friends.

He was preceeded in death by his parents, Frank and Sidy Bruha; and his wife, Darlene Jo.

A funeral service was held Feb. 1, 2018, at the Milford United Methodist Church with the Rev. Lyle Schoen officiating. Interment was in the Wilber Czech Cemetery, with military honors by the U.S. Marine Corps, assisted by the Crete VFW and Milford American Legion Post. Memorial contributions may be made in lieu of flowers to the Marine Corps League or to the Nebraska Law Enforcement Memorial Fund. Condolences may be sent to the family at www.laubermoore.com.

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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."