Don Softley wears a lot of hats for his Grant, Nebraska, community — volunteer fire chief, emergency medical responder, high school and college track official, member of the local economic development committee, banker.
He’s even the man in charge of the annual Fourth of July fireworks show.
Each role is part of a larger, personal project: giving back to a community that rallied around him in the wake of his wife’s tragic passing.
“When a traumatic event happens to someone — especially someone young in age with very young kids — a community coming together to offer support is such a blessing,” Softley said. “People were coming in to clean the house, make food, babysit the kids and so much more. I felt that I needed to give back in any way I could.”
Seeing firsthand the importance of community — and the importance of having someone there to answer those calls — has since shaped Softley’s life. Among his most treasured roles is that of being a first responder. As Americans observe Patriot Day and remember the first responders who served with courage and sacrifice on Sept. 11, Softley represents the same spirit of service, especially in Nebraska, where nearly 90% of firefighters are volunteers. Of Nebraska’s 17,200 firefighters, about 15,400 are volunteers like Softley, who stand ready when their communities need them.
“Oftentimes, you’re helping people who are in a real crisis and going through serious trauma,” Softley said. “It takes a lot of empathy to help people recover from things like that; I saw a great way to return the favor back to this community.”
Before he could start giving back, he had to figure out a way to reshape his career in a way that prioritized his two sons.
Softley’s University of Nebraska–Lincoln degree was in agronomy, with a minor in business, and he was working in agronomic consulting for a company headquartered in McCook. After his wife died, he leveraged his business education to begin a career in banking that allowed him to spend more time with his kids.
“I’d always had an aptitude for numbers, which I think I got from my father, and that helped me in my business classes in college,” Softley said. “When I changed careers to focus on being a father, I knew I had that foundation of skills the University of Nebraska had built in me to fall back on.”
Gradually, Softley’s life settled. He met and married his current wife, Kay, and had two more children. He began a career at the Grant branch of Western States Bank, eventually moving up to branch president.
And he began to make good on his resolve to help the Grant community. Encouraged by a friend, Softley joined the local volunteer fire department. Almost 50 years later, he’s still there, serving as the longtime fire chief.
“This light switch went off in my head very early on where I realized how strongly I felt about this work,” he said.
Much of this work — including fighting area wildfires — has also allowed him to maintain a working partnership with his alma mater, through the Nebraska Forest Service.
“A lot of our main firefighting tools we use are from them, and they’re very important to us,” he said. “It certainly saves the taxpayer a lot of money, as well, for us to be able to use that gear to do our work.”
As he took on more leadership in the department and his community, he also stressed the importance of volunteering time and energy through mentoring the generations who have come after him.
“I think right now our culture doesn’t stress volunteering as much, and I’ve really tried to recruit young people in our area and help them see that this sort of work really warms your soul,” he said. “With the recent fires out west, I’ve had lots more young people see the real need we have and jump in to help their fellow man, which has been great to see.”
Through his work as a banker, a volunteer track official, his emergency services work or just as a neighbor, he has built numerous relationships by being the person ready to jump in and help. He’s a community-builder, and noted that his education at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln helped him learn the importance of navigating differences and recognizing a common good in everyone.
“For me, my college years were so much about building all kinds of relationships,” he said. “You go to college, you're going to see different cultures and different lifestyles and hear different thoughts. We were created to be different, and the university was a great place to learn about the world and the people in it.”
