Darren Scott Dageforde, son of Darrel Dageforde and Rosemary (Hulse) Dageforde, was born June 24, 1965, in Hebron. He died at home in Blair 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. In 1994, after the birth of his son Pierce, the family moved to Omaha.
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 and 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; son, Pierce Dageforde, Omaha; sister, Deb (Mark) Craig, Hebron; sister, Rochelle (Walter) Heussmann, Houston, Texas; brother, Rick Dageforde, Hebron; sister-in-law, Susan Sjeklocha, North Platte; brother-in-law, Larry Ridenour, sister-in-law, Arla (Mike) Kvanvig, and brother-in-law, Ryan (Shelby) Ridenour, all of Mullen; brother-in-law, David Ridenour, Washington D.C., mother-in-law, Judy Ridenour, Mullen; and a host of nieces and nephews.
Memorial services will be held Tuesday March 21, at 10 a.m., at Campbell Aman Funeral Home in Blair. Visitation will be held Monday March 20, with family receiving friends from 3 to 8 p.m. at Campbell Aman Funeral Home.
