Beloved UNL marching band student passes away

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Cornhusker Marching Band has lost one of its treasured piccolo players and rank leaders.

Andy Krueger, a senior computer science major from Omaha, died Monday morning after a heart attack Friday evening. He had just turned 22 on Jan. 29.

The UNL Band office first heard the news around noon on Monday, according to Anthony Falcone, associate director of bands.

"Today was the first we heard about (Krueger's heart attack)," Falcone said. "He hung on through the weekend."

Rose Johnson, an administrative tech for UNL Bands, said she wasn't aware of any problem that could have caused Krueger's heart attack.

"That's the scary part about heart and lung problems," Johnson said. "You don't know until there's a crisis."

The news of Krueger's death — which filtered down from the administration to Krueger's fellow rank leaders to the rest of the band's 290 members throughout the day — came as a shock to many.

"I was in shock," said Casey Guillaume, a senior nutrition, exercise and health science major. "I'm still in shock. It's hard to think he's not here with us. It's going to be a different year without him in band."

Guillaume was a piccolo rank leader with Krueger in the marching band. As rank leaders, the two became close. They met their freshman year.

"He's a good friend," she said. "I'd see him around campus a lot and we'd say hi."

The other piccolo rank leader, Kathryn Moore, a senior fisheries and wildlife major, heard the news from Guillaume.

"I thought she was talking about someone completely different," Moore said. "Not piccolo Andy. You don't think about someone that close to you passing. It's out of the blue."

Alyssa Carson, a senior fisheries and wildlife major and fellow piccolo player, heard the news in her botany class.

"I just froze and my skin prickled," Carson said. "I couldn't believe it. I couldn't get it through my mind."

Six hours after hearing the news, she said she still couldn't believe it.

Krueger's father, Bob Krueger, declined to answer questions over the phone about his son, writing it was too soon.

In an email correspondence with the Daily Nebraskan, Bob wrote that many people are writing their thoughts and memories on Krueger's Facebook wall.

Even those who didn't know Krueger personally could spot him on the field during marching band performances.

"He was quite a sight on the field," Bob wrote in an email. "Many people noted that the biggest person on the field was playing the smallest instrument possible."

Falcone said the 6-foot-8-inch piccolo player left a big impression on everyone he met.

"Everybody has a positive thought and memory for him," Falcone said.

Moore recalled a memory of Krueger during band camp, when he put a sweatshirt on his arms and held them up to create shade for the rest of his section.

"He was this really big, fun kid who no one would've guessed played piccolo," Moore said. "He was a really fun guy who was really energetic for 7 a.m. rehearsals … He was always happy, 24-7."

Carson met Krueger in her sophomore and his freshman year of marching band and the two grew close.

"He was just the nicest guy," Carson said. "He was always trying to make people laugh and smile. If you were having a bad day, he'd do something crazy to make you laugh."

Johnson got to know Krueger during long bus rides to away football games.

"We usually rode on the same bus," Johnson said. "We (as band leaders) sort of seemed to gravitate toward the same buses. It always happened that I was on the piccolo and tuba bus."

On the bus, he always sat up front because he was so tall, she said.

"He was in charge of swapping out the DVDs," Johnson said. "He was very patient and didn't complain."

Krueger was always volunteering to help load the bigger instruments into the trucks, which he didn't need to do since his instrument could fit in his pocket, Falcone said.

One memory stands out more than most for those who knew him. No matter what the temperature or weather during band practices, Krueger always wore shorts.

"He never wore pants for anything," Carson said. "At six in the morning, it was 32 degrees and he would always be in shorts."

Guillaume said he was as happy as can be, even in the winter, and Moore said he was that random kid who didn't wear pants.