Ronald Keller
Class of 1957Alumni Recognition Award, 2005
Ron Keller was born and raise din Naperville, as a fourth generation Keller. He was introduced to music at the age of eight where he began to play the tuba at Ellsworth Elementary School. He continued in music throughout high school where he was the student director his senior year, as well as being the first recipient of the John Philip Sousa award at Naperville Community High School. Ron had also been actively involved in orchestra, attending Northern Illinois University majoring in music, where he came out with honors.
Ron is involved with the Naperville Municipal Band, taking the role of director in 1966. Since that time, he has put in an amazing amount of energy into developing the band into one of the premier adult musical organizations in the country. In 1991, the band received the prestigious Sudler Silver Scroll Award from the John Philip Sousa Foundation. Ron also received the President's Award for Service to the Association of Concert Bands. Among his other awards Ron earned the 2000 local Legacy Award (WMB) from the United States Library of Congress.
Ron is a member of Windjammers Unlimited, the American School Band Directors Association, the Association of Concert Bands (life member), Masonic Lodge and Burlington Route Historical Society. He was also the treasurer of the Sister Cities Commission. Ron has also been active in the field of education for forty-three years. He worked as a public school teacher for thirty-two exciting years. For eighteen of those year he was the Naperville Schools Coordinator of Music.
Ron's retirement in 1993 led him to enjoy some of the simpler things in life. He enjoys gardening, fishing, sausage making, and model trains. Ron is married with five grown children, three grandsons, and three granddaughters. Mr. Keller has been proudly portraying John Philip Sousa since 1989, when the Naperville Municipal Band played a typical "Sousa style" concern called, "Sousa Lives", at the Paramount Arts Center.
NAME'S MESSAGE TO STUDENTS: "We are all born with special 'Gifts' and talents. It is up to us, with the help of our mentors and teachers, to pursue them and realize our potential through hard work and study."
