Dorchester Times: Lila Pribyl Passes At 82

Monday, May 27, 2024

Lila Pribyl Passes At 82

Dorchester's Lila Mae (Brunkow) Pribyl, daughter of George Frederick and Mabel Fern (McAdams) Brunkow, was born on April 4, 1942 in Fairbury. She departed this life to join her loving husband for a long-awaited polka dance on May 25, 2024 at Tabitha Long Term Care in Crete at the age of 82 years, 1 month and 21 days.

Lila Mae grew up in Fairbury as a young girl before moving with her family to Lincoln, where she graduated from Lincoln High in 1960. Following graduation, she married Richard Fred Pribyl at East Lincoln Christian Church on June 19, 1960. To this union, three children were born, Mark Scott, Christine Pamela and Allison Luann. Their first home was on an acreage west of Wilber where they lived for a couple of years. They then moved to a farm west of Dorchester, where the children grew up, before moving to the family farm south of Dorchester. In December 2004, Richard and Lila moved to their new home in the town of Dorchester on the east side of town.

Even after Lila’s diagnosis of dementia in 2017, she was able to continue living in her home with the help of home health care nurse, Cassandra Andelt. She was a true blessing to Lila and held a special place in Lila’s heart. In January 2020, when her mind would no longer allow her to continue to live at home, Lila moved to Independent Living at Kinship Point in Seward, later transitioning to Assisted Living. In September 2023, Lila moved to her final earthly home at Tabitha Long Term Care in Crete.

Lila’s family and friends were very near and dear to her heart and brought her so much happiness! She always loved helping people. She never missed an opportunity to make a meal for family and friends, even if it was on the tailgate of a pickup during planting and harvest time. She enjoyed raising chickens and the grandkids have fond memories of butchering day as that always meant fresh fried chicken for dinner! Lila loved to bake and garden, and nothing warmed her heart more than sharing her talents with family, neighbors and friends. Lila also had a beautiful gift of quilting and crocheting. She loved the smile it brought to people’s faces when she would give away one of her projects…not without a picture for her scrapbook of course! Many people were able to bear witness to her many talents through her role as a volunteer with the Saline County 4-H program. She spent many years not only entering projects of her own but also volunteering at the fairgrounds during county fair.

Various places that Lila worked over the years included a typist clerk for a company in Lincoln, kitchen help at Dorchester Public School, Dietary and housekeeping at Crete Hospital, cleaning the Dorchester Post Office along with various other volunteer jobs. At home she also enjoyed helping Richard with their farming and milk cow operation.

Lila had a love for collecting genealogy of both her and Richard’s families. The amount of research and attention to detail in the many books of information she collected was beyond amazing. She also had a soft spot in her heart for music. She enjoyed country music and anything by Elvis Presley! Growing up her father would play many hours of polka music on his accordion. At Sunday family meals, her kids and grandkids would be entertained with polka playing loud and proud for all to enjoy. Even through her battle with dementia, Lila never lost her love for good polka music and dancing.

Lila was preceded in death by her loving husband Richard; parents; father-in-law and mother-in-law Fred and Elizabeth Pribyl; sister and brother-in-laws Ethel Fern & Adolph Dudek, Ilene & Dale Sieck, and brother Donald Brunkow; sister-in-law and brother-in-law Chuck and Betty Pribyl.

Those left to cherish her wonderful memories are her son Mark & Diane Pribyl of Dorchester, Nebraska; daughters Chris & Mike Haake of Daykin, Nebraska and Allison Richtarik of Lincoln, Nebraska; grandchildren & great grandchildren Deb & Matt Schwisow and children Erika, Kymber & Grady of Western, Nebraska; Derrick & Megan Haake and children Maddox, Bryant & Harper of Daykin, Nebraska; Codie & Kayla Pribyl of Fairbury, Nebraska; Alyssa Richtarik and Special Friend Trevor Kerns of Lincoln, Nebraska; Haley Tomka & Special Friend Joshua DeJarnett and son Kyan of Lincoln, Nebraska; honorary grandson Cale & Jen Olson and son Waylon of Dorchester, Nebraska; sister-in-laws & brother-in-laws Hilde & Ken Lowery of Longmont, Colorado; Bob & Mailyn Maas of Kenosha, Wisconsin; Dave & Judy Rollins of Omaha, Nebraska; Pat Owen of Lincoln, Nebraska; along with numerous nieces, nephews, family and friends.

Services will be held on Saturday, June 1 at 10:30 a.m. at Dorchester United Methodist Church. Visitation will be on Friday from 5 to 7 p.m. at Kuncl Funeral Home in Crete. Memorials are in care of the family for future designation. Arrangements entrusted to Kuncl Funeral Home in Crete. Visit the online obituary.

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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."