Since their days as sweethearts at Central, Steve and Judie have teamed up to improve life in Omaha, particularly when it comes to the care and welfare of animals. Steve graduated from the NU College of Law and went on to a distinguished career with Omaha’s Fraser Stryker firm, serving in many capacities with the state bar association. Both also became leaders in numerous community organizations, including the Omaha Community Playhouse. But they would make their biggest mark in helping to transform the Nebraska Humane Society. As a volunteer in the early 1990s, Judie became concerned about poor facilities and inadequate care. She established the Friends Forever guild to get more people and resources behind NHS. Then she and Steve helped recruit new leadership and pushed for a $12 million capital campaign that transformed the shelter into a multi-building complex. The drive created space to save more animals and to provide new services, including obedience classes and a free/low-cost spay-neuter clinic. Steve also used his legal expertise to push for stringent new animal welfare laws. It’s a legacy to the couple’s passion and compassion that NHS became one of the nation’s most recognized, well-financed animal welfare organizations.