Lisa Brown Jasa, 63, former communications specialist and editor of Nebraska Extension’s CropWatch newsletter, died Sept. 28 at the Monarch, due to pancreatic cancer.
Jasa became a communications specialist in the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Department of Agricultural Communications in the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources in 1985, where she edited Nebraska Extension publications and worked on other writing projects.
CropWatch, Nebraska Extension’s pest newsletter, was launched under the editorial guidance of Jasa in 1992, as a six-page print subscription newsletter intended to directly and quickly communicate university research findings and Extension recommendations to Nebraska farmers. The content moved to online and print publication in 1996.
Over time, the topics and contributors increased to encompass all aspects of crop production, pest and farm management. In 2009, CropWatch became the homepage of a one-stop shop website for all Nebraska Extension crop-related information. Around 2017, Jasa worked to redesign the weekly CropWatch email and move it to a modern email distribution system. CropWatch yearly receives nearly 2 million page-views from more than 300 countries.
Jasa was was born to Gerald Edward and Bettie Norrine (Bobbitt) Brown Oct. 11, 1956, in Hasting, Nebraska. She attended Kenesaw Public Schools and graduated from there in 1974. She attended the University of Nebraska–Lincoln where she studied journalism and English, earning a bachelor’s degree.
Prior to her work at the university, Jasa worked as an editor at the Burlington Hawkeye newspaper in Burlington, Iowa, and then as a reporter and later city editor at the Fremont Tribune in Fremont, Nebraska. She joined her sister in business at On the Double, a business services company, in College Station, Texas, before returning to study journalism further and earn her master’s degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Jasa enjoyed spending time with her husband and children and their new families. A member of First Presbyterian Church in Lincoln, she served as an elder, deacon and member of the church foundation’s board of directors and contributed to the work of many committees in the church.
Jasa is survived by her husband, Paul John, daughter, Katie (Philip) Styrt and granddaughter, Helen, of Davenport, Iowa; son, John Jasa and his wife, Kate Weskamp of Boulder, Colorado; sister, Ginny (Clint) Machann of College Station; brother, Gerry (Karen) Brown of Elkhorn; nieces, Shelly (Shawn) Gallagher of Kenesaw; Alena (Kirsten) Horn of St. Louis, MO; Tessie (Tim) of Princeton, N.J., Sarah (John) Piel of Lincoln; brothers-in-law, Tim (Sally) Jasa of Lyons, Chris (Brenda) Jasa, of Bradshaw, Doug Jasa and friend Julie Orwell of Kansas City, Missouri. She was preceded in death by her parents, Gerald Edward and Bettie Norrine Brown, and one brother, Tom Brown.
A public memorial service will be held at First Presbyterian Church at a later date. Memorials may be made to the First Presbyterian Church Foundation or to the Lincoln Office of the American Cancer Society. Condolences can be left online and a full family obituary can be found here. A tribute from the CropWatch team can be found here.
