Rodney Joseph Soukup, 82

Rodney Joseph Soukup, 82, passed away at home on June 23, after a 10-month-long battle with pancreatic cancer. Born in Faribault, Minnesota, on March 9, 1939, Rod grew up in Montgomery, Minnesota, and received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Minnesota.
After a brief stint in private industry, Rod found his calling in academics, spending four years as a professor of electrical engineering at the University of Iowa and thirty-five years at the University of Nebraska, more than twenty-three of which were as the Chairman of the Electrical Engineering department. Among other things, as the chairman of the department, Rod was a pioneer in technological, cultural, and academic exchanges with the post-Cold War Czech Republic, his ancestral homeland. After retiring from UNL in 2011, he volunteered for several years at the University’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, teaching OLLI classes on popular music.
Rod was a prodigious technology supporter; a prolific consumer of music; and a lifelong sports enthusiast, playing slow-pitch softball for nearly four decades and holding Nebraska football season tickets for almost as long. He spent much of the last decade of his life traveling the world – China, Europe, Australia, Alaska, and especially Hawaii – with his beloved wife, Tracy.
Rod was preceded in death by his mother, Lillian, and his father, Joseph. He is survived by Tracy, his wife of 55 years; three sons, Rick, Mike (Annamarie), and Steve (Melissa); and seven grandchildren.
Mass of Christian Burial was Friday, July 2, 2021, at 10:30 a.m. at St. Joseph Catholic Church, 7900 Trendwood Drive. Father Michael McCabe officiating.
The family has asked that, in lieu of flowers, donations can be made to: University of Nebraska Foundation: Dr. Rodney Soukup Memorial/Electrical Engineering Department Excellence Fund, 1010 Lincoln Mall, Suite 300, Lincoln, NR 68508. The University of Minnesota Foundation: Hartig Fund, 200 SE Oak Street, # 500, Minneapolis, MN 55455, and Saint Joseph Catholic Church, 7900 Trendwood Drive, Lincoln, NE 68506.
Butherus, Maser & Love Funeral Home will be handling the arrangements. Online Condolences can be left at www.bmlfh.com