Bradley Dean DeGroot

Brad De Groot, DVM, PhD

“Dying in one’s sleep is called a kiss of God, and dying on the Sabbath is a gift that is merited by piety.” -Susannah Heschel

Bradley Dean De Groot entered into his eternal reward on The Lord’s Day, Sunday, December 7, 2025 after an eight-year trial with neuroendocrine tumors. Brad’s parents, Glenn and E. Joy De Groot, welcomed their son into the world on Sunday, October 1, 1961 at the same hospital in Denver, Colo. where he drew his last breath.

Brad attended school in Denver and Phoenix, but from the time he was eight, he spent his childhood summers working at Nelson Farms in Phillips County, Kan. Working with livestock on the farm became the seedbed of his career as a livestock veterinarian and epidemiologist. Brad received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree in 1988 from Colorado State University, and his Master’s and Doctorate in Epidemiology in 1996 and 1998, respectively, from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, after completing coursework and teaching veterinary students at the Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center near Clay Center, Neb. Brad’s advanced-degree expertise was in data analysis and data-driven consulting, but his occupational delight was working with cattle in the open-air “grit and bang” alongside cattlemen. He enjoyed any veterinary labors associated with food animal stewardship and production, and was a gifted equine doctor. Brad’s career encompassed clinical practice, academic research and teaching, veterinary product development, and state veterinary regulatory work in the Southwest, High Plains, and Rocky Mountain West.

Brad met his wife, Krista, on a senior small-animal surgery rotation in vet school when he picked up her husky’s chart for a routine neuter. On July 6, 1988, in an outdoor ceremony at the historic Onahu Ranch, Rocky Mountain National Park, Brad and Krista vowed covenantal lifelong fidelity to one another, cinched tight by the guiding hand of Christ Jesus, their Lord. “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken” (Ecclesiastes 4:9–12). In the spirit of God’s Genesis 1:3 bidding, they joyfully welcomed their children, Ingrid Gabrielle in 1996 and Britta Isabel in 1998. Brad solemnly embraced his role as husband and father and lived out his Christian faith by nurturing his family in the ways of God through the power of His Word and the Holy Spirit. He committed himself to the Apostle Paul’s admonishment to love his wife “as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25) and to the principles of his Lord Jesus, especially as he suffered at the end of his earthly days, to “lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

Brad was preceded in death by his father and two pre-born children. He is survived by his mother, his wife, and two daughters.

Family and friends will honor Brad and his Savior in a funeral at Callaway United Methodist Church, Callaway, Neb. at 10:30 a.m. on December 19, 2025. His body will be interred at Waldheim Cemetery near Callaway. The family will hold a memorial service at First Presbyterian Church in Dillon, Mont. at 11:00 a.m. on January 3, 2026.

Memorial contributions are welcome to Desiring God Ministries (https://www.desiringgod.org/), Riverbend Bible Church (https://www.riverbendbiblechurch.org/), or Christian Veterinary Mission (https://cvm.org/).