Obituary of Charles Robert Krueger

Charles Robert Krueger, 85, of State College, died Sunday, July 16, 2023, at the Village at Penn State after a strong year and a half long battle against cancer. We are thankful for the excellent care provided by the staff at the Atrium and Grane Hospice.

Born June 21, 1938, in Milwaukee, WI he was the son of the late Hilmar and Mildred (Eggert) Krueger. On November 21, 1965, he married Ellen Hanson, who survives. In addition to his wife, Charles is survived by two children, Beth (Krueger) Gugino and her husband Jeff of State College, PA and Brian Krueger and his wife Paige (Vallie) of North Augusta, SC along with his two granddaughters, Harper and Vanessa.

Chuck Krueger served in the United States Army ROTC and graduated with a bachelor's degree in dairy science in 1960, a master's degree, also in dairy science, in 1963, and a doctoral degree in agronomy in 1967, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His administrative career started at South Dakota State University and then The Ohio State University at Wooster before he became the associate dean for research and associate director of the Pennsylvania Agricultural Experiment Station at Penn State in 1982. After 15 years in the role, he began teaching a course in forage crops management for the then Department of Crop and Soil Sciences and was a liaison to the Northeast Pasture Research and Extension Consortium. He retired from Penn State in 2004, relocated to Mesa, Arizona, in 2006 and then returned to State College in 2018.

While in Arizona, he was President of the Leisure World Foundation that secured funds for House of Refuge and established a lecture series for community residents. Once back at Penn State, he was an advocate and philanthropist supporting the College of Agricultural Sciences and the tri-partite land-grant mission. He was a life-long lover of plants from vegetable gardening to propagating cacti to flower gardening at the Village.

In acknowledgement to his start in academia as an undergraduate researcher and in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Charles R. and Ellen M. Krueger Undergraduate Research Endowment in the College of Agricultural Sciences at Penn State. Contributions can also be made to the Charles R. and Ellen M. Krueger Research Applications for INnovation (RAIN) Grant Endowment to support graduate students whose research is focused on research commercialization. Chuck and Ellen established these endowments in 2016 to support the next generation of agricultural scientists. Chuck always said, "that Penn State has had a major impact on the lives and successes of our entire family." Contributions can be made at www.raise.psu.edu/KruegerUGResearch or by check mailed to College of Ag Sciences Development Office, 240 Agricultural Administration Building, University Park, PA 16802.

Arrangements are under the care of Koch Funeral Home, State College. Online condolences may be entered at www.kochfuneralhome.com or visit us on Facebook.