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Service was not new for Neve. During World War II, Neve entered
the Naval Officer Training Program. He then came to Dana, where
he studied psychology and was choir president and a Hermes
staff member. As an ELCA pastor for four decades, Neve served
in Nebraska, Iowa and Colorado, in community churches, hospitals
and charity organizations. When he and his wife, Eunice (Petersen)
Neve retired in 1990, they moved back to Omaha. Neve brought
his passion for Habitat for Humanity with him.
He started with the goal of bringing churches into active
participation with the Omaha chapter of Habitat. He helped
form five coalitions,
composed entirely of churches, who committed to providing both
the labor and the money necessary to build one Habitat house
each. Neve was so successful at bridging between Habitat and
Omaha churches that an entire committee, the Church Relations
Committee, now works with him to push the effort further. In
2000, Neve was awarded the Omaha Habitat for Humanity Volunteer
of the Year Award for “dramatically increasing Habitat’s
ability to fulfill its mission.” At the end of 2002,
Omaha Habitat for Humanity had built 150 houses and placed
families in them. By the end of 2003, they expect that number
to increase to 166.
“
I firmly believe that joining such a work as Habitat for Humanity
results in people acquiring a broader and deeper understanding
of Christian stewardship,” Neve once wrote to Nebraska
Lutheran. “It is good for churches to get involved in
this ministry.”
Ried and Eunice have four daughters, Juel Pierce, Deborah
McWhirter, Patricia Tinnel and Susan Hettinger.
Dana College is a private, liberal arts institution that currently
enrolls approximately 600 students. The campus is located on
150 acres overlooking the Missouri River Valley in Blair, Neb.
Dana grants bachelor’s degrees in more than 20 liberal
arts, business, education and pre-professional programs. Dana
is affiliated with the Nebraska Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America, and its athletic teams compete in the Great
Plains Athletic Conference.
More information on Dana College can be found on its web site, www.dana.edu.
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For more information contact:
Sarah Cavanah
Communications Coordinator
Dana College
(402) 426-7216
scavanah@dana.edu |
