Knowing their father was in his final hours, Roger Steele and other family members didn't expect to discuss organ donation. After all, Dale Steele, a World War II veteran, was almost 101 years old. Surely, he had nothing that could be used to save another person's life.

Then a representative from Live On Nebraska, an organ donation clearinghouse, approached the Steeles.

"They just wanted to know if we were interested, and they explained the process to us," said Steele, who serves as Grand Island's mayor. "Of course, they told us about the need, and when they first mentioned it, I was surprised, because I said he's over 100 years old. They said it doesn't matter. If you're in good health, you can be a donor."

It didn't take the family long to make a decision.

"We knew that if he had the choice, he'd say yes, because that was just the way he was, but he hadn't made that selection beforehand," Steele said.

A surgical team was dispatched to Nebraska Medical Center to recover Dale's liver. It tested clean and was soon delivered to the recipient, a man in his 50s, who was listed as the top candidate to receive the organ.

First used in Europe, new medical equipment tests an organ to determine its sustainability, said Kyle Herber, president and chief executive officer of Live On Nebraska.

"This is kind of a new paradigm," Herber said. "Those devices have allowed us to go after a lot older donors, because we can then determine, after the death process occurs, how much damage was done to that organ. How well it's functioning before they take that risk to put it into somebody else."

Steele became the oldest American to donate an organ, at the age of 100 years and 92 days, surpassing the previous record of 98 years, Herber said. The oldest person in the world to donate an organ or tissue was a 101-year-old Italian, he said.

Born on Nov. 11, 1925 - Veterans Day - the organ donation seemed like the ultimate act for a person who spent his life serving others, Herber said.

"He opened up his house to not only his grandkids, but to anybody in the community who needed something," Herber said. “He was the ultimate American.”

Steele joined the Army after graduating from Brown County High School.

After serving across Europe during the war, Steele found himself in the middle of history, as a guard during the Nuremberg Trials of Nazi civilian and military war criminals.

He spent time guarding Hermann Goering, who was Adolf Hitler's second-in-command, as well as the head of the German Air Force.

"My dad described him more as being a politician than a military man," Steele said. "You know, by demeanor, he was a talker and kind of a glad hander, that sort of thing."

Following the war, Dale Steele returned to Nebraska, where he raised Hereford cattle, as well as working at the Bassett Farmers Co-op, eventually managing the co-op in Pierce. Toward the end of his career, Steele sold irrigation and grain handling equipment.

Married to Doris for 72 years, the couple also enjoyed traveling, visiting the Caribbean and Hawaii, among other destinations. She died in November 2020.

Despite his age, Steele remained in his home, where a daughter would help him.

He suffered a traumatic head injury as a result of a fall that eventually led the family to make the decision to donate his liver, Roger Steele said. His father didn't want to be put on life support, Steele said.

With more than 100,000 people in the United States in need of an organ transplant, 350-450 reside in Nebraska, Herber said.

With about 8,000 liver transplants annually, Steele's donation opens a new avenue for organ donations, Herber said.

"This proves that there is no age limit," he said. "Medicine and science evolve. With a 100-year-old donating, what is possible today wasn't possible a few years ago. And so what's going to be possible in three years and in five years? We don't know."

While technology improves, the number of people registered as organ donors has also increased, Herber said.

"We have seen an increase for the past 15 years, until 2025, when we kind of flattened out here in Nebraska," he said. "While the number of people signing up appears to have somewhat flattened out, the number of families that are choosing to say yes continues to increase. So we have seen good growth year over year."

About 170 million people in the U.S. have registered as donors, but only about three in 1,000 die in a way that allows for organ donation, according to organdonor.gov.

More than 800,000 Nebraskans are registered as organ donors, Herber said. The organ donation process is complicated and involves at least two teams from Live On, he said.

Consultants meet with family members to discuss options, while another squad meets with the care team to review medical options, Herber said.

After the care team determines the end of life is at hand, a surgical team is dispatched, with organs recovered and then transported to hospitals awaiting them, he said.

Since Live On Nebraska handles organ donations for the entire state, teams travel via chartered aircraft to western areas.

Live On Nebraska is part of a national network of 55 donation organizations, so it's possible that an organ recovered in Nebraska could end up at a hospital in another state, Herber said.

"They would send a plane, and then the pilots would just basically take that organ and fly back and then hand it to the surgeon, so that they can do the transplant," he said.

After learning that his father could be an organ donor, Steele said he planned to register as one.

"Maybe most of us don't like to think about our mortality, but having gone through the experience and seeing the great need, it seems like a very logical and reasonable thing to do," Steele said.

Tim Trudell is a freelance writer and online content creator. His work has appeared in Flatwater Free Press, Next Avenue, Indian Country Today, Nebraska Life, Nebraska Magazine, Council Bluffs Daily Non-Pareil and Douglas County Post Gazette, among others. He is a citizen of the Santee Dakota Nation.