Antioch honors Ann ‘Dolly’ Spiering by renaming community center

Village Board approved the name change on June 25

The Antioch Village Board has voted to rename the former senior center building at 806 Holbek Drive the Dolly Spiering Community Center. Here Spiering is shown on her 86th birthday.

The Antioch Village Board has voted to rename the former senior center building on Holbek Drive. It’s now the Dolly Spiering Community Center, honoring one of the town’s most generous and enduring benefactors in time for what would have been her 126th birthday.

The unanimous decision was made at the June 25 Village Board meeting.

Dolly’s financial bequest stunned the community and wasn’t just remarkable for its size. It reflected a lifetime of service. The senior center now bearing her name stands as a testament to her commitment.

Spiering’s life was deeply rooted in Antioch. When she died in 1999 at the age of 100, she left a $6 million legacy earmarked to support and improve the senior center at 806 Holbek Drive, the Lakes Region Historical Society, the Antioch Rescue Squad and the PM&L Theater. Her gift transformed the community quietly, but powerfully.

“Renaming the senior center in Dolly’s honor is more than a tribute. It’s a promise to carry forward her spirit of generosity and her love for our village,” Antioch Mayor Scott Gartner said in a news release. “For 100 years, Dolly gave Antioch her heart. Now we have a way to perpetually honor her dedication and commitment to our community.”

Dolly’s life in Antioch

Born June 26, 1899, in Chicago, Dolly moved to Antioch after marrying Clarence Spiering. She and her husband ran the legendary Spiering Castle Restaurant, a whimsical stone building on the corner of Routes 45 and 173. The Castle’s turrets gave it a fairy-tale feel. Inside, they served hearty meals and hosted banquets of up to 200 people.

The couple owned three of the four corners of that busy intersection, which included their home and a tavern. Photographs from the 1930s show the Castle framed by Texaco gas pumps and a Schlitz beer sign advertising 10-cent beef sandwiches.

In 1981, Clarence and Dolly funded a 1,000-square-foot addition to the then-named Antioch Senior Center to ease overcrowding. The expansion increased seating capacity to 235, restoring the center’s role as a gathering place for seniors and groups such as the AARP.

Clarence died in 1983.

Dolly remained a fixture in local life. She volunteered at the Antioch Thrift Shop, was an active member of the Senior Center, AARP and the Garden Club and often could be found helping others with a sweet smile.

‘She wanted to have a good time’

Dolly was the kind of woman who didn’t fade quietly into old age. Friends remember her as a “high kicking” spirit who once joined a Fourth of July parade dancing down Main Street with her friend Clara Haling. She loved community parties and senior dances and was still kicking up her heels into her 90s.

“Dolly was a feisty, determined, fun-loving lady. She not only danced up Main Street in the Fourth of July parade when she was in her 80s, she did the can-can! She could usually be found at a card table at the senior center or working at the Mental Health Thrift Shop,” said Ainsley Wonderling, museum director of the Lakes Region Historical Society. “Renaming the center to the Dolly Spiering Community Center is a very apt and enduring tribute to one of Antioch’s most colorful characters.”

Her only daughter, Dorothy Leable, died in 1998, just six months before Dolly was laid to rest.

A farewell measured in millions

Dolly’s financial bequest stunned the community and wasn’t just remarkable for its size. It reflected a lifetime of service.

The senior center now bearing her name stands as a testament to her commitment. Although Dolly’s voice is silent, her generosity echoes in every corner of Antioch.

The Antioch Village Board has voted to rename the former senior center building at 806 Holbek Drive the Dolly Spiering Community Center.
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