Dorchester Times: Longtime Dorchester Resident Ferman Rediger Passes At 95

Tuesday, July 10, 2018

Longtime Dorchester Resident Ferman Rediger Passes At 95

Longtime Dorchester resident Ferman Rediger went to be with the Lord on Saturday, July 7, 2018 at the age of 95 years 9 months and 3 days.

A funeral service will be held at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow (Wednesday, July 11) at Friend Christian Assembly with Pastor Eric Jensen officiating. Interment will be in Andrew Cemetery. Visitation will be today from 1-8 p.m. at Lauber-Moore Funeral Home with the family greeting relatives and friends from 6-8 p.m. Click here to send sympathies to the family.

Memorials are directed in care of the family.

Ferman was born October 4, 1922 to Jake and Lavina (Hershberger) Rediger, the youngest of eight children. He enjoyed being the youngest having four brothers and three sisters (he got a bit spoiled as you can imagine). Living on a farm southwest of Milford the family belonged to East Fairview Mennonite Church and he attended Country School District #47 until 1936. At an early age, Ferman studied a Confession of Faith and accepted Christ by the symbol of water baptism.

Even though the 1930s were hard due to the drought and depression, he always said he had fond memories. As his older siblings got married, his mother sold the farm, and Ferman went back to school in Washington, Iowa where he attended Sugar Creek Mennonite Church near Wayland. Ferman worked part-time at Guther Picture Studio and also worked on a farm. Wages were poor, so he went to Peoria, IL and worked for R.G. Letourneau Heavy Grading Equipment Company until he was drafted for WWII in 1942. Because of his Christian heritage and pacifist view, the Draft Board allowed him to serve in Civilian Public Service doing work of national importance in construction for the duration of his draft. As a relief effort, Ferman also worked in the George Marshal Plan shipping horses and cattle to Gadansk, Poland, known as U.N.R.R.A. (United Nations Relief and Rehabilition Administration). He was discharged from service in May of 1946 and returned to Milford, Neb. where he began working for Milford Co-op delivering fuel and oil to farmers.

On September 6, 1949, Ferman was united in marriage to Ina Earnest of Wayland, IA and they made their home in Milford. They had three children, Lynette, Earnest, and Gretta. In the early 1950s, they moved to Dorchester where he was the fuels agent for Mobil Oil Company of Omaha. Being a fuels agent became a life-career for Ferman as he worked for the Farmers Cooperative in Dorchester.

He was a member of the Friend Christian Assembly in Friend and also served as a board member. Ferman loved being at home and had a concern for his family’s spiritual awareness. His interests included reading and studying his bible and discussing politics and sports. His hobby was carpentry and he enjoyed using barnwood to make picture frames and various art pieces. He also enjoyed helping Ina with the flower gardens and last, but not least, collecting rocks, stones and coins.

When Ferman retired, he and Ina became the caretakers of the Saline County Museum in Dorchester, and also volunteered at a Christian College at Edenburg, TX for Latino students. Over the years, the family traveled to many places of interest for vacations.

Ferman is survived by his wife, Ina, as well as his daughters and son-in-law, Lynette Rediger, Gretta and Mark Stutzman, all of Friend, son, Earnest Rediger, Colorado Springs, Co, four grandchildren and spouses, Amanda and Ross Ricenbaw, Lincoln, Shane and Jennifer Stutzman, Friend, Holly and Brandon Borchers, Utica, Danielle Rediger, Colorado Springs, CO, eight great-grandchildren, Alexa Ricenbaw, Lincoln, Royce, Bentley and Aston Ricenbaw, Lincoln, Charlee and Sawyer Stutzman, Friend, Barrett and Everly Borchers, Utica; sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law, Arlene Kremer, Sun Lake, AZ, Ronald Earnest, Harpers Ferry, IA, Carla Earnest, Coralville, IA, nieces, nephews and a host of other relatives and friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents, four brothers, Sterling, Stanley, Merle and Dallas Rediger, three sisters, Verda Roth, Ollie Roth and Maybelle Krabill, sisters-in-law, Kelly Earnest and Ruth Rediger.

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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."