Dorchester Times: Dorchester's Nancy Slepicka Passes; Services Wednesday

Sunday, December 7, 2025

Dorchester's Nancy Slepicka Passes; Services Wednesday

A funeral service for Nancy Slepicka will be Wednesday, Dec. 10, at 10:30 a.m. at the Dorchester United Methodist Church in Dorchester. A graveside service will be Wednesday, Dec. 10, at 3 p.m. at the Bohemian National Cemetery in Milligan. Pastor Cameron Miller will preside over the services. A public visitation will be Tuesday, Dec. 9, from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. with family present from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Farmer & Son Funeral Home - Kotas Chapel in Milligan.

Memorials are suggested to the Dorchester Rescue Squad.

Nancy was born August 15, 1946 in Friend to Ernest “Curly” and Rose (Suda) Kotas, the oldest of two children. She passed away peacefully at home in Dorchester on Dec. 5, 2025 at the age of 79 years, 3 months, and 21 days.

Nancy attended Milligan Public Schools and graduated in 1964. While in school, she played the saxophone in the band, volleyball in a skirt, softball and numerous other activities along with her close friends Bev, Diane, and Sandy. They remained lifelong friends. Nancy met Alan Slepicka when he borrowed her saxophone to play in a dance band and over time their love blossomed and they were united in marriage on September 19, 1964. Alan and Nancy were blessed with 4 children: Dean, Craig, Tiffany, and Heather.

After Alan’s Army service in Ft. Gordon, Ga., the couple returned to Nebraska where they made their home in Dorchester starting in 1965. Nancy made a great partner with Alan and the Slepicka Bros. excavating business. She enjoyed gardening and canning/freezing the summer’s rewards for later meals. She was also quite the cook and baker with something always ready to share on the counter. Nancy always seemed to be good with numbers as she was employed over the years with Hansen tax preparation services in Dorchester and Allen Insurance Agency, City Bank, and Union Bank in Crete, NE.

Nancy enjoyed attending all her children’s and grandchildren’s activities and sporting events and was always proud of the efforts of all. She also was involved with many local clubs that included Jolly Doers, Extension Club, Methodist Women of Faith and volunteered at H.A.T.S. in Friend. She also enjoyed traveling with Alan to the many locations around the country that their children moved to and many bus trips to new and interesting places.

Nancy was preceded in death by her parents Ernest and Rose Kotas.

She is survived by her husband of 61 years, Alan Slepicka, Dorchester; her children Dean Slepicka (Christy), Milford, Craig Slepicka (Lisa), Seward, Tiffany Wegele (Brian), Auburn, Kan., Heather Slepicka Lawrence, Kan.; eight grandchildren: Parker Slepicka, Brady Slepicka (Madi), Landis Miles (Landen), Max Slepicka, Wade Slepicka, Charles Wegele, Lydia Wegele, Heath Wegele and great grand baby Miles on the way; Brother Daniel Kotas (Bev), Milligan, and many nieces, nephews, cousins and cherished friends.

Nancy will be remembered for kindness, generosity and her love of friends and family. Her love will endure with all who knew her.

2 comments:

Jim SpragueDecember 7, 2025 at 12:06 PM
Sending sympathies to Alan and family. Nancy was always so pleasant to me as was all the family. You’re all in my prayers.
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AnonymousDecember 8, 2025 at 9:02 PM
Nancy and Alan are just cream of the crop people. So nice and always professional. RIP, Nancy and all our sympathies to the entire Slepicka family. Thank you for all you have done for our town.
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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."