Dorchester Times: Rural Dorchester's Gaylen Sysel Passes At 56

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

Rural Dorchester's Gaylen Sysel Passes At 56

On Friday, September 18, 2020, Gaylen Joie Sysel, passed away of sudden heart attack at the age of 56. He was the son of Joie J. and Norma M. (Kotas) Sysel born on October 14, 1963 at the Friend Hospital.

Gaylen grew up on a farm south of Dorchester and attended Dorchester School. He played in the marching band. He was an active 4-H member, loved animals and gardening. He received a degree in horticulture from Doane College and started working at Campbells Nursery in Lincoln, and was currently employed at Merles Greenhouse of Seward. At Campbells, he grew plants from seeds or clippings. He had a love/hate relationship with poinsettias, but they were always beautiful!

Gaylen was united in marriage to Laura J. Gradwohl Looper (and her two daughters) on March 11, 2000 at the Dorchester United Methodist Church. To this union, a son, Tyler Joie Sysel was born. He was an active member of Tabor Lodge #74, currently serving his 2nd term as president. He also served as treasurer. He was proud of his Czech heritage and looked forward to Czech days every year. He loved his pork, kraut, dumplings and kolaches. Apricot was his favorite. He knew he could always get his favorite meal cooked by his aunts at Christmas and Czech Days. He loved his polka music and played bass in a polka band.

Gaylen was always working on a project around the house and Menards was his second home. He also loved all those rebate items! His love of animals was obvious. He took in stray animals and made sure Tyler had animals to show for the fair. He loved the Clydesdale horses and several vacations were dedicated to seeing the horses or to get special Budweiser steins and have the artist sign them.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Joie and Norma, grandparents: Edward and Marie (Novy) Kotas, Eman and Mary (Kohout) Sysel, his father in law, John O. Gradwohl, aunts and uncles: Darlene Kasl, Richard Stehlik, Irvin Karpisek, Eman and Alice Sysel, Edward Sysel. Survivors include wife, Laura, son, Tyler, stepdaughters: Jessica Looper and Nathan Reisdorff, Ashley Looper and Mark Francis, grandchildren: Kennedy, Owen, & Ryker. Mother-in-law, Marceil (Burry) Gradwohl, sisters-in-law: Cheryl Brown, Kathy (Jim) Dice, Andrea Cassutt, brothers-in-law: Steve (Karen) Gradwohl, Ken (Kim) Gradwohl, aunts and uncle: Ella Karpisek, Shirley Znamenacek, Marlene Stehlik, Ed (Linda) Kotas, many cousins and friends and bonus sister, Sherry (Nancy) Eman.

In lieu of flowers, memorials to Tabor Lodge, Humane Society, or Tyler’s college fund. Services will be Thursday, 10:30 a.m. at Kuncl Funeral Home in Crete (masks are recommended). Public visitation will be on Wednesday from 4-7 p.m. (family will not be present). Online sympathies may be left 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."