Dorchester Times: Joann Znamenacek Passes At 81

Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Joann Znamenacek Passes At 81

Joann Znamenacek, 81 of Lincoln and formerly of Dorchester, died April 20, 2019. She was born to Henry and Rose (Pecka) Horky on April 14, 1938 in a cabin at Horky’s Park at Crete, which is now known as Blue River Lodge. She was raised on farms north of Milford, south of Crete and south of Dorchester (by Pleasant Hill). She loved her cats and dogs. She enjoyed playing the trumpet in the band and participating in marching band at school events and parades. She enjoyed dancing.

She worked in Crete at Bud’s Cleaners and Formfit Rogers, before her marriage to Lester on May 5, 1956. She helped her husband in the Massey Ferguson Implement business and Zoom’s Autos. She enjoyed gardening, baking and raising her family and going to garage sales. After the passing of her husband in March 2005, she became a volunteer at Bryan LGH Hospital. She had a loyal companion cat named “Lucky”.

She is survived by her daughter Leslie (Mark) Kinzie of Lincoln; son, Kevin (Jane) Znamenacek of Western; nine grandchildren, Jolene Grable, Tim Kinzie, Jamie Brueggemann, Sandra Koll, Susan Senft, Kane Znamenacek, Michael Znamenacek, Tyler Znamenacek, and Mitchell Znamenacek; thirteen great-grandchildren, Matilda Koll, Henry Koll, Riggs Brueggemann, Carter Kinzie, Eleanor Senft, Franklin Koll, Charles Koll, Brennan Znamenacek, Odessa Grable, Emilee Brueggemann, Howard Senft, Mila Znamenacek, Hayden Znamenacek. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband Lester, son Gerry and sister Janice Klika.

Funeral Services will be held Friday, April 26, at 10 a.m. at Lincoln Memorial Funeral Home. Interment will follow at Lincoln Memorial Park. Visitation will be on Thursday, April 25, from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. also at the funeral home. Memorials have been suggested to the family for future designation.

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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."