The DeKalb County Community Foundation is pleased to announce the Charles Krull Music Support Fund. This Fund provides aid to low income children in DeKalb County who are pursuing music education. It will help students pay for expenses such as musical instrument rental and fees for private music lessons. The exact mechanism to determine eligibility and distribution of grants for this purpose is currently in the planning phase.

Charles Krull was born in Texhoma, Oklahoma on June 19, 1933. He married his wife Maria “Toni” on March 9, 1978. Charles has four children and six beautiful grandchildren. Charles passed away on March 1, 2019 at the age of 85.

Dr. Charles Krull. Photo credit: DeKalb-Pfizer Genetics

Charles began his college career at Panhandle State University. From there he went on to receive a Master’s degree from Oklahoma State University, and a PhD in Crop Breeding from Iowa State University. Krull worked for the Rockefeller Foundation in Colombia, Mexico and the Middle East. He was fortunate to work on a project called “The Green Revolution” which helped with the transfer of Mexican wheats and their growing techniques across the globe. The successful program won its director, Dr. Norman Borlaug, the Nobel Peace prize in 1970. In 1968, Krull joined DeKalb Ag and worked in Argentina and Italy. He returned to the United States in 1978 and was named vice president of Corn Research, a position he held until 1993. Until his retirement in 2010, he served as a consultant with major food crop companies. He was a member of many professional organizations. Throughout his career, Krull had the opportunity to travel and live in various parts of the world, but he always said DeKalb was the best, and considered it his home.

Although he was very dedicated to his career, Krull always found time for the arts, particularly music. He started singing as an undergrad in Oklahoma and continued throughout most of his life. Locally he sang with a Barbershop Group, the DeKalb Festival Chorus, and the Westminster Presbyterian Church Choir. Krull also enjoyed playing the piano which he did most of his life.

“The Chief (my nickname for Charles) and I were married for 41 years and I was privileged to have shared his many accomplishments and his love for the arts,” said Toni. “He believed music is important and children should be given the opportunity to discover it.”

Donations to any fund at the Community Foundation, including the Charles Krull Music Support Fund, can be made online at dekalbccf.org/donate, or by mail to the DeKalb County Community Foundation, 475 DeKalb Avenue, Sycamore, IL 60178. For questions or additional information on funds, please contact Executive Director Dan Templin at 815-748-5383 or dan@dekalbccf.org.

Pictured above: Charles ‘The Chief’ Krull