Dorchester Times: Norm Sokolik Passes At Age 66

Friday, March 16, 2018

Norm Sokolik Passes At Age 66

UPDATE: The Associated Press has reported the following: A 67-year-old man was killed in a fatal crash on March 10 in Saline County, authorities said. The Saline County Sheriff's Office said an investigation shows a 2002 Ford Ranger, driven by Norman Sokolik, 67, was driving west on County Road K when it attempted to turn North. While attempting to turn onto County Road 1300, the vehicle was not able to remain on the roadway and ended up on its side. Upon arrival, Sokolik was found deceased. The other passenger, Karen Sokolik, 63, was transported to a Lincoln hospital for her injuries. The crash is still under investigation.

Norman F. Sokolik passed away on March 10, 2018. He was born April 5, 1951, in Crete to Frank and Viola (Smisek) Sokolik. He was raised east of Milligan until the family moved to the farm south of Dorchester. He graduated from Dorchester High School in 1969.

He earned a degree from Southeast Community College – Milford in Building Construction Technology. He worked for Kenneth Kreshel before forming a partnership as Quality Construction. He later worked with Doug Oliva.

Norm and Karen Jean Zelenka were united in marriage on November 8, 1980, at the Exeter United Methodist Church. They made their home on the Smisek family farm south of Dorchester where he took great pride in farming. Norm enjoyed his time road-tripping in the “buggy”; being Dede to his 10 grandchildren and travelling to see their many activities; browsing Menards for more unnecessary tools; giving construction advice to his daughters on their projects (“well that’s not quite how I would have done it, but I suppose it’ll work”); searching for the next community cookbook he could find at thrift shops; Friday night trips for lottery tickets and scratch cards; and socializing with his many, many friends at establishments throughout eastern Nebraska.

As Norm had more time on his hands, he thoroughly enjoyed reading magazines, newspapers or maps so he could plan his next adventure. He enjoyed trips to the “home place” near Western whether it was to check the crops, go deer hunting with his wife and girls, nephew Dan, and then eventually his sons-in-law, or bummin’ around. He took great pride in that land that just this past year was awarded the Pioneer Farm Award for 100 years in the Sokolik name.

Norm is survived by his wife, Karen Jean (Zelenka); daughters, Nikole (Jason) Marschman, Krystal (A.J.) Novak, Ashley (Ryan) Volk, and Katelyn (Kyle) Vrtiska; grandchildren, Tony, Addison, and Sophie Marschman; Samantha and Jacob Novak; Josiah, Trenten, and Ally Volk; and Quinn and Finley Vrtiska; sister, Carolyn (Virgil) Wahl; brothers-in-law, Ron (Bonnie) Zelenka, Gary Zelenka; sister-in-law, Susan (Richard) Brandow; and many nieces and nephews.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Frank and Viola; and uncle, Joe Sokolik. Memorial donations in Norm’s name can be made to the Dorchester Community Foundation Fund towards the Splash Pad, Dorchester Volunteer Fire Department, Dorchester American Legion, Dorchester United Methodist Church or your favorite watering hole, where you are instructed to tie a few on and tell a few stories of the great Norm Sokolik.

Celebration of Life: Wednesday, 11 a.m., Kuncl Funeral Home, Wilber. Casual attire please. Visitation: Tuesday, 4 – 7 p.m., funeral home.

1 comment:

AnonymousMarch 13, 2018 at 8:46 PM
Many prayers and thoughts go out to the Sokoliks. :(
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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."