Dale Henry Vanderholm

Dale Henry Vanderholm, age 86, of Castle Rock, Colorado died on Saturday, July 25, 2026, surrounded by his loving family. He died as he lived, with dignity and grace. Born on March 28, 1940, he was raised on a large farm near Villisca in southwest Iowa.

Dale graduated from Iowa State University with a BS in Agricultural Engineering in 1962 and an MS in Water Resources in 1969. While at Iowa State, he was a member of Acacia Fraternity Koph Chapter and was active in the Iowa State Singers, the premier choral ensemble.

In 1963, Dale served as a Naval lieutenant aboard the Gearing-class destroyer USS Herbert J. Thomas (DD-833) stationed in Long Beach and deployed with the Seventh Fleet to the Far East ports of Japan during the Cold War, providing gunfire support early in the Vietnam War. During the ship’s Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization (FRAM) conversion that protected the ship from biological, chemical agents and radioactive fallout, he was stationed at Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, California. Upon the ship’s 12-month completion, Dale was the Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) nuclear missiles officer while the ship navigated along the California coast to conduct testing of the new FRAM program.

Returning to higher education, Dale joined the faculty at Iowa State in 1967. He married San Diego native Margaret Jean Trimmer (b. 1939) on June 24, 1967 and went on to earn his PhD from Colorado State University in 1972. His dissertation, "Planning Water, Quality and Surveillance," laid the groundwork for subsequent research on water quality and pollution. In 1973, they moved to Illinois, where he taught and conducted research for more than 10 years at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and served as a Visiting Research Fellow from 1979–80 at the New Zealand Agricultural Engineering Institute (NZAEI).

In 1983, the family moved to Nebraska, where he was appointed Professor and Associate Dean and Director of the Department of Agriculture at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His seminal research on agricultural water pollution and the effects of runoff in groundwater remain consequential empirical studies.

Retiring in 2006 as Emeritus Associate Dean of Agriculture Research, the family moved to Castle Rock, Colorado to be close to their growing family. Dale loved to laugh, travel, and enjoy life, and he rejoiced as he sang baritone with the Men’s Glee Club at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church. He is survived by his wife, Margaret; daughters Dr. Kim Vanderholm (Chris Burchard), Stephanie Vanderholm Emko (Drake); and granddaughters, Logan, Ashton and Alexis. A memorial service will take place on October 2nd at 2:00 pm at Fort Logan National Cemetery.