Dorothy Grafton

A free-spirited entrepreneur, Christ-follower and devoted mother and grandmother, Dorothy Eleonora Rienks Bralick Grafton finished her earthly life on June 23, 2024. Dorothy was born October 13, 1930, to Gustaaf and Harriet (Holderbaum) Rienks in South Bend, Indiana, where she lived throughout her youth. In 1948, she graduated South Bend Central High School, where she sang in the choir and glee club, played the double bass in the orchestra and took part in school plays.

She married Carl Bralick on September 2, 1950, at Our Lady of Hungary Catholic Church in South Bend, soon after Carl was discharged from the U.S. Army. Dorothy and Carl owned Cobert Lake Bar near Edwardsburg, Michigan, in the 1960s and Carl’s Place in Sargent, Nebraska, in the 1970s. They spent many busy and loving years raising their eight children together, living along Cobert Lake and then in the small town of Sargent. They divorced in 1973, and Carl died in 2003. Dorothy went on to own or manage other restaurants in Callaway, Broken Bow and Kearney, Nebraska, and also managed apartment complexes in Colorado Springs and Pueblo, Colorado. She had a gift for food, cooking, hospitality and restaurant management, and passed many of these gifts on to her children.

Dorothy married T. Scott Grafton in 1982, and as an Air Force wife, lived in Panama City, Florida, and Upper Heyford, Oxfordshire, England, before returning to Colorado. They divorced in 1997. In the 1990s, Dorothy joined the full-time staff at Maranatha Bible Camp near North Platte, Nebraska, where she managed the food service and housekeeping departments. She moved in 1999 to Kearney, where she lived until 2017 when she came to Lincoln, Nebraska, to live with some of her daughters.

As matriarch of her family, “Grandma Dot” was at the center of many family gatherings and celebrations during her later years. She delighted in her many grandchildren, great- and great-great grandchildren, who made it a point to visit her whenever they could.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her stepparents Gus and Lula Rokanus, a son, Carl Anthony Bralick, and siblings Richard, Henry, Alex, Fritz, Gus, Ann, Blanche, Martha, and Benjamin. Left to cherish her memory are her children, Carmen Young of Lincoln, Rebecca Taylor of Lincoln, Joyce (Jimmy) Presley of Clermont, Florida; Andrew (Susan) Bralick of Kearney, Elizabeth (David) James of Lincoln, Jean (Tad) Stryker of Lincoln, and Arthur Bralick of Kearney; daughter-in-law Cheryl Bralick of Colorado Springs; brother Jack (Bev) Rienks of Englewood, Florida, as well as 15 grandchildren, 24 great-grandchildren, three great-great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews.

A funeral mass is being held at 9:00 a.m. on June 26, 2024 at St Mary's Catholic Church in Lincoln, NE, followed by a graveside service and lunch at Lincoln Memorial Funeral Home and Cemetery. Online condolences may be shared on Dorothy's obituary page at www.lincolnfh.com or on Dorothy's Facebook page. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Habitat for Humanity in honor of Dorothy Grafton.

Funeral Mass at St. Mary's Catholic Church will be livestreamed, please see the link provided to watch services: https://youtube.com/live/WJdBTv5hQVQ?feature=share