who was then the university president, threatened to expel Schrader if he didn’t stop editing the publication. Barry refused to stop, but was never kicked out of the university. “So he’s always been somewhat of a rabble rouser, a gadfly. I liked to jokingly call him a muckraker,” said Smith. “There were some people who got exasperated with Barry, because he wanted things to move relatively quickly. He wanted situations that he felt were unfair or unjust to be rectified.” Throughout his life, Schrader also advocated for those with mental illnesses. He cofounded the DeKalb County Citizens for Better Mental Health Care and received the McNish Advocacy Award from the National
Alliance on Mental Illness. In 2009, he fought (unsuccessfully) against Kishwaukee Hospital eliminating their inpatient Mental Health unit.
the Sycamore Pumpkin Fest parade, and the Soybean Adventure and Tractor Show at the Waterman Summer Fest.
Schrader wrote in his column titled “Remembering a life of activism,” published October 8, 2013: “That has been the story of my life, taking a strong stand on various issues, not always successfully, but at least I felt better for having made the effort.” Schrader wrote that he had a pin with the slogan, “I Chase Windmills,” because of his propensity to take up hopeless causes.
Another avenue Schrader used to try to improve his community was politics. He was elected to a community college district board in the San Francisco Bay Area by defeating a 20-year incumbent and then won re-election two more times, even serving as president of the board before retiring.
As another example of this, while in California Schrader protested (unsuccessfully) against one of his former employers no longer observing Martin Luther King Jr. Day. But Schrader was not content to just protest in order to make the world a better place; he was also heavily involved in community service through Rotary and other organizations. Barry was active in the Livermore Rotary for 33 years, then later with the Sycamore Rotary Club after moving back to Illinois in 2006. Since the Schraders were living at the Oak Crest Retirement Center, Schrader organized a new satellite Rotary Club at Oak Crest. Of the 35 current members of the Oak Crest Area Rotary Club, Schrader personally recruited 25-30 of them. One of those whom he persuaded to join was John Peterson of Sycamore, who later served as President of the Oak Crest Rotary group. “I followed Barry’s lead,” said Peterson. “It was completely his initiative and his efforts that brought that about.” Projects that Schrader helped with, either by serving or fundraising, through the Oak Crest Rotary Club included Feed My Starving Children, DeKalb County Community Gardens, Hope Haven, Boy Scout Troop 33,
In 2016, Schrader helped his old friend, Jerry Smith, get elected mayor of the City of DeKalb. “He was very, very tenacious,” said Smith. “He insisted that we walk this neighborhood and walk that neighborhood. He designed all my campaign material.” BARRY SCHRADER’S LEGACY Barry Schrader spent a good part of his life chronicling the history of DeKalb County and now he, himself, has become a significant part of that history. Besides leaving behind all of his “DeKalb County Life” columns, which are a virtual treasure trove of local history and nostalgia, Schrader helped to start or revive numerous organizations that continue on. Back in 2013, Ney Grange #1845, which was the only surviving Grange society in DeKalb County, was in danger of collapsing because it had lost so many members. DeKalb County at one time had nine granges. Barry took it upon himself to single-handedly recruit people to keep the Ney Grange in operation, and he became Grange Master (president). The Grange, a fraternal organization that encourages families to band together to promote the economic and political wellbeing of agricultural communities, dates back to the 1860s and was a precursor to the farm bureau. The Ney Grange is based in Genoa.
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