Family members include his sister Lori (Greg) Siepker; nephews Benjamin (Emily) Keeler and daughter Zoe, and Nicholas (Ali) Keeler; stepchildren Christian Gates and Kelly (Jake) Day and children Lettie and Coen. Preceded in death by his parents and wife Susan Ve.
Jeff was a Hydrogeologist for the State of Nebraska. Most people working in the earth sciences in Nebraska knew that Jeff was a truly great geologist who knew more about the geology of the state than almost anybody. But he actually started off his career with a bachelor’s degree in geography from UNL in 1978. He began working for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Conservation and Survey Division (CSD) in 1979 as a Water Scientist at their Scottsbluff office. He spent several years performing a variety of services for CSD, including taking groundwater samples and levels, and servicing the constant water level recording wells scattered all over the Panhandle. In 1984, Jeff was promoted to Research Geologist where he gained vast experience and knowledge of surface and subsurface geology, particularly in the Panhandle. Western Nebraska is a big place with fascinating, complex geology, and Jeff continued to get drawn into learning about sediments, rocks, water, and anything to do with the Earth. He also continued to take classes in geology for the next several years, even while working full time. From 1984 to 1989, Jeff collected geologic information from 146 test holes with CSD’s drilling program, one of the best in the country. Spending days, hours, and weeks on a drilling rig all over Nebraska increased Jeff’s knowledge of geology, and taught him the importance of detailed, thoughtful analysis of all of the small stuff—sediment type, grain size, rounding, cementation, and a million other minutiae that only a truly dedicated geologist can appreciate. And working around drilling rigs and well drillers taught him the patience, persistence, and toughness necessary to succeed in an often difficult and challenging environment. The holes Jeff logged amounted to over 125,000 feet (almost 24 miles) of drilling—a truly world-class amount of valuable information. He worked with and studied under some of the giants in Nebraska geology—Vince Dreeszen, Vern Souders, Frank Smith, Ray Bentall, Bob Diffendal, Jim Goeke, and Jim Swinehart, to name just a few. But he was also establishing himself as one of those giants as well. And as a result of this knowledge and expertise, Jeff published many professional papers, reports, and maps during his 10 years with UNL-CSD, information that is still in use today.
When Jeff moved back to Lincoln and started with the Nebraska Department of Environmental Control (NDEC) in 1989, he brought with him a treasure trove of knowledge and experience that carried him through the next 34 years. Unsurprisingly, Jeff continued to make his mark in this new career. He conducted groundwater monitoring for many Natural Resources Districts, mainly involving concerns with nitrate pollution, and published reports based on that data. His work soon became well-known among Nebraska’s groundwater managers. Jeff completed groundwater reviews for thousands of sites in Nebraska for at least six different programs within the agency. He became a Nebraska Professional Geologist in 1999, a licensed Water Well Contractor in 2002, and was Employee of the Year in 2012. Jeff was with the agency long enough for it to change from the NDEC to the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ), and he retired in July 2023 a few years after it had become the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy (NDEE). His thoroughness and dedication to detail and reality sometimes got him into hot water with the private sector and even some of the agency administration, as his work sometimes brought up uncomfortable facts which weren’t always easily dismissed. But Jeff worked and lived by the famous admonition attributed to Davy Crockett: “Be sure you’re right, then go ahead.” Jeff certainly went ahead, and he was proven right much more often than not.
Even today, many geologists and program personnel at the agency and other entities, while reviewing historical information from the recent years back to the 1970s, come across Jeff’s work both with UNL-CSD and NDEE, and his insights and expertise provide them with invaluable information. Undoubtedly, his work will live on in the efforts of those working to protect and manage Nebraska’s precious natural resources, and he would appreciate that kind of legacy.
All of this paints a picture of a dedicated, exceptionally knowledgeable geologist, committed to doing top-notch, defensible, and worthwhile work as a professional. But anybody who really knew Jeff understood that he was also honest, decent, kind, loyal, and willing to give a hand to anybody who needed it and who was willing to learn from him. He could, upon occasion, also be sort of stubborn—but that mainly arose from his competence and confidence in his work and knowledge, and his unwillingness to compromise on what he knew was right. And those who worked with him for many years and knew him well will always remember him as a valued colleague, a source of knowledge and wisdom, a fierce and forthright friend, and, above all, that most rare of creatures—a truly good man. He’ll be greatly missed.
Private family graveside service.