Darren Scott Dageforde, son of Darrel Dageforde and Rosemary (Hulse)
Dageforde, was born June 24, 1965, in Hebron, Nebraska. He died at home
in Blair, Nebraska on March 14, 2023. Darren quickly developed a strong
midwestern work ethic growing up on a family farm south of Hebron.
After graduating from Hebron High School as salutatorian in 1983,
Darren went to college at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He
graduated in May of 1987 with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. In 1988
he married Karen Stam. His first job was a safety systems engineer at
the Cooper Nuclear Station in Brownville, Nebraska. In 1994, after the
birth of his son Pierce, the family moved to Omaha, Nebraska.
In 1998, he began working at the University of Nebraska Medical Center as
a campus engineer. Darren was part of the team constructing and
renovating dozens of new buildings for UNMC, transforming it into a
world class healthcare, research and teaching hospital campus. Darren
crusaded to reduce the amount of energy it took to run the campus,
helping the environment and saving UNMC millions of dollars in the
process.
To continue his quest for energy efficiency, Darren
built a net zero energy house in Washington County in 2011, along with
his trusty sidekicks Karen and Pierce. The house’s experimental design
won the 2014 ASHRAE technology award. It was the only single-family home
ever recognized in the first 30 years of the program.
Darren
instantly started giving tours of his home, sharing his enthusiasm with
all visitors. In 2013, Darren, Karen & Pierce started volunteering
with the Washington County Recycling Association in Blair. After
retiring from UNMC in 2020, Darren started umpiring baseball and
softball and refereeing football. In the fall of 2022, Darren began
working for Washington County as their building inspector.
Darren is survived by his wife, Karen Dageforde, Blair, NE; son, Pierce
Dageforde, Omaha, NE; sister, Deb (Mark) Craig, Hebron, NE; sister,
Rochelle (Walter) Heussmann, Houston, TX; brother, Rick Dageforde,
Hebron, NE; sister-in-law, Susan Sjeklocha, North Platte, NE;
brother-in-law, Larry Ridenour, sister-in-law, Arla (Mike) Kvanvig, and
brother-in-law, Ryan (Shelby) Ridenour, all of Mullen, NE;
brother-in-law, David Ridenour, Washington D.C., mother-in-law, Judy
Ridenour, Mullen, NE; and a host of nieces and nephews.
Memorial services will be held Tuesday, March 21, at 10:00AM, at Campbell
Aman Funeral Home in Blair, Nebraska. Visitation will be held Monday, March 20, with family receiving friends from 3:00 to 8:00PM at Campbell
Aman Funeral Home.