Dorchester Times: Dorchester's Elaine Sandburn Passes At 91; Service Is Wednesday

Tuesday, March 19, 2019

Dorchester's Elaine Sandburn Passes At 91; Service Is Wednesday

One of Dorchester's favorite residents has left us. Elaine Sanburn passed away in Crete on Thursday, March 14, 2019, at the age of 91.

Elaine was born on April 11, 1927, in Lincoln to Edwin M. and Iva L. (Walker) Crick. At the age of 5 she attended first grade at the country school, which was located on the southwest corner of the family farm where they were living. She attended country school until the end of eighth grade and then attended and graduated from Dorchester High School in proud Class of 1944. It was during her freshman year in high school that she met her future husband, Edwin Sanburn.

After graduating high school, she attended Yakima Business College in Yakima, Washington. After returning to Dorchester, she began working for the Guggenmos Investment Company located in the old telephone building on Dorchester's Main Street. She remembered Ed arriving back home on a train after his service in the Navy during World War II.

Elaine and Ed were married on July 19, 1949. They lived on the family farm for 2 ½ years and then bought the small Thompson house in the northeastern part of Dorchester. After living in that house for a few years after their son Robert Edwin was born, they moved one block to the south into a larger house. She and Ed lived in that home until 2015.

After Ed’s death in 2015 she moved to The Gardens Assisted Living in Crete. In December of 2018, she moved from The Gardens to the skilled nursing facility, Tabitha in Crete until the time of her death.

Elaine had memories of the dust storms and the depression in the 1930s. She would talk about how Ed would give her rides on the handlebars of his bicycle. Ed and Elaine enjoyed travelling with trips to Colorado, Missouri, Arkansas, and a cruise to Alaska celebrating their 50th anniversary. She greatly enjoyed her times with the family.

Elaine joined the American Legion Auxiliary in 1949 and was proud of her longstanding membership with them. She was a member of the Dorchester Methodist Church and had served on the school board for the Dorchester Public Schools. She was a long-time member of the Jolly Doers extension club and always looked forward to the club meetings where she had many close friends.

Survivors include: son, Bob (Lori) Sanburn of Denton; grandsons, Shawn (Anthea) Sanburn, Brian (Kate) Sanburn, Troy (Megan) Sanburn all of Lincoln; great-grandchildren, Zach, Carter, Nolan, Abby, Travis, Paisley, Linnea, Riyah. Elaine is preceded in death by her parents, Edwin and Iva Crick.

A celebration of life will be held at 11:30 a.m. tomorrow (Wednesday), March 20, 2019 at the Dorchester United Methodist Church with Rev. Dr. Paixao Baptista officiating. Cremation/no viewing. Private family inurnment at Lincoln Memorial Park, Lincoln.

Memorials are suggested to the family for future designation. Kuncl Funeral Home in Crete is handling arrangements. To leave condolences online, click here.

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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."