Barry Schrader A DEKALB COUNTY LIFE By: Stephen Haberkorn
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n June 30, 2020, Barry Schrader’s extensive public and private service to the people of DeKalb County, Illinois came to an end at the age of 79. Schrader had a long career as a journalist, including a 3-year stint as the Editor of the Daily Chronicle. Growing up in both the southern and northern parts of DeKalb County, graduating from Northern Illinois University, and living out his last years in DeKalb at the Oak Crest Retirement Center, Schrader developed a deep love of local history and was committed to ensuring that the notable people, places and events of DeKalb County would be remembered by future generations. Schrader was also an activist, philanthropist and community service leader, who fought to improve the lives of women, racial minorities, and those with disabilities. He leaves behind a legacy of not just his published words, but lives he’s impacted and organizations he helped found or revive. JOURNALISM CAREER Barry Schrader said that his interest in history was first kindled during high school when he was hired to scour the back issues of his hometown weekly and prepare a collection of news from 25 and 50 years
before. Those efforts turned into a column called “Looking Back” that ran in the Genoa Republican. Upon graduating with a degree in Journalism from Northern Illinois University in 1963, Schrader edited three weekly newspapers: the Byron Tribune, Stillman Valley News, and Leaf River Register. He then purchased the Genoa Republican and the Kirkland weekly, which was named the DeKalb County Journal. After first starting another weekly publication, the Sycamore Sun, he helped form the DeKalb County Press and bought out the Sycamore True Republican and Sycamore Tribune. Robert Campbell of Genoa, who was a classmate of Schrader at Genoa-Kingston Middle School and High School, said that Barry did a lot of research into anything he took on and was very thorough. He remembers the Genoa Republican when Schrader was the publisher. “It was a great small town newspaper,” said Campbell. “It was all local stuff and things of interest to the town, not to the world.” In 1966, Schrader sold his interest in DeKalb County Press and moved to Southern California to work for the San Bernardino Sun. From 1967-1969, Schrader was the editor of the Livermore (CA) Herald. In 1969, he returned to DeKalb County, Illinois to become the editor of the Daily Chronicle, where he led the paper through their coverage of historic events, such as the Apollo moon landing and the NIU student riots after the Kent State shooting. During this time, Schrader wrote a
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