As we approach Father’s Day, I’ve been reflecting on how my dad’s desire to serve Nebraskans shaped my own path in public service. Since childhood, I’ve seen up close the importance of sound, locally focused public policy. My dad taught me that real servant leadership means showing up, staying the course, and doing the quiet work that tangibly matters.
My father was Jerry Strobel, a civil engineer who spent his entire career at the Nebraska Department of Roads and served as its director under Governors Kay Orr and Ben Nelson. But to me, he was just “dad.” As a kid, I tagged along on his weekend inspection tours to look at bridges and roads being built across Nebraska.
I didn’t know it then, but it was on those tours and through the conversations around our kitchen table that shaped the values I still carry with me today: attention to detail, respect for the people doing the hard work, and a belief that policy only matters if it improves daily life for the people it touches.
