Dorchester Times: Dorchester's Imogene Hostetler Passes At 94

Thursday, December 22, 2022

Dorchester's Imogene Hostetler Passes At 94

Longtime Dorchester resident Imogene Hostetler passed away Dec. 13 at the age of 94. Funeral services will be held Thursday, Dec. 29, at 10:30 a.m. at the Beth-El Community Church in Milford. Visitation will be Wednesday, Dec. 28, from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Beth-El Community Church with family greeting relatives and friends from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Imogene had been residing at an assisted care facility in Adams for the past few years.

She was born on September 13, 1928, to Phillip and Verna (Stutzman) Stauffer at home in Milford, NE.

Imogene attended Stauffer School District #73 and graduated from Milford High School in 1946. In her youth she accepted Christ as her Savior and was baptized at East Fairview Mennonite Church near Milford. Later she became a member of Beth-El Mennonite Church where she served faithfully teaching Sunday school and bible school.

Imogene married Dale J. Hostetler on August 20, 1946. They were married for 49 years and 9 months before Dale passed away in 1996. To this union four children were born, Patsy, Sally, Robert and Jerry. They lived on a farm in Milford and later moved to Dorchester. Imogene enjoyed gardening, her flowers, pets, playing cards, Nebraska volleyball/football, car races and helping out on the farm. She will always be remembered for her delicious homemade pies!

After raising her children, she went to work at Norden Laboratories in Lincoln as the supervisor for the small animal department for nearly 20 years.

She is survived by her three children Pat Hergenrader of Tempe, AZ, Sally (Ray) Kastanek of Roca, NE and Jerry (Cindy) Hostetler of Miramar Beach, FL, sister Elaine Burkey of Seward, NE sister-in-law Norma Jean Troyer of Albany, OR, 10 grandchildren Karen (Tracy) Hatton of Chandler, AZ, Dale J. (Darlene) Moser of Mesa, AZ, Brock (Jenny) Kastanek of Cortland, NE, Bubba (Brooke) Kastanek of Hickman, NE, Shawn Hostetler of Adams, NE, Patrice Jackson (Rod) of Lincoln, NE, Emily McGuire of Lincoln, NE, Amber (Scott) Sietz of Lincoln, NE and Ashley (Ron) Matulka of Ceresco, NE, Kevin (Ampone) Hergenrader of Scottsdale, AZ and 24 great grandchildren and three great, great grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.

Imogene was preceded in death by her husband Dale J. Hostetler, son Robert, son-in-law Leroy Hergenrader, parents Phillip and Verna Stauffer, father-in-law and mother-in-law Grant and Sadie Hostetler, brother and sister-in-law Cleve and Sally Stauffer and brother-in-law Willis Burkey.

Memorials may be given to the family or any of the following: Women’s Auxiliary in Dorchester, Dorchester Fire Department; Goldcrest, Adams, NE; or Adams Fire Department. You may leave your sympathies online.

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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."