DeKalb musician, 54-year host of holiday toy drive concert, dies day after final show

DeKALB – Gary Mullis, award-winning DeKalb country music singer and songwriter who hosted his 54th annual holiday toy drive benefit concert Sunday, died on Monday.

The longtime host of the Country Music Show Toys for Tots Toy Drive which he once described as “a family show for a good cause,” was a longtime DeKalb County resident.

Friend Larry Howlett said Gary’s cousin, Tom Mullis, helped write his obituary this week.

“I’ve known Gary for quite a few years as a friend through music,” Howlett said. “He was a good man.”

Mullis was born at the old St. Mary’s Hospital in DeKalb on May 14, 1944, and grew up on a farm in Sycamore, according to his obituary.

He even wrote a book about it, “From Farm to Hall of Fame Museum” where he chronicled his time as a farm boy with his father, the one-room schoolhouse he attended in Sycamore. The book also featured his memories after 36 years working at University Plaza in DeKalb, his faith journey becoming a Christian at Foursquare Church in DeKalb and when he was inducted into the VIP Songwriting Hall of Fame Museum.

Gary Mullis performs one of his original songs with backing by Harold Condray of Ellsinore, Mo., far left, Pat Byrnes of DeKalb, and Keith Snyder of Sycamore during a back-to-school supplies drive concert in this July 21, 2019 Shaw Local file photo at Taylor Street Plaza. (Mary Beth)

Mullis played the drum, tambourine, washboard and the snare drum and was a backup singer to other artists, according to his obituary.

Since 1970, he’d turned his passion for music into helping others through his annual show which helped bring toys to area children in need.

He marked 50 years of the show back in 2019 and told Shaw Local News Network then that he wanted to thank the community for supporting his show for decades, which started as a way “to get people together and play music.”

The first concert was held at Cortland Town Hall in 1970. Admission for Mullis’ concerts was a new, unwrapped toy which he collected and then distributed for Toys for Tots and The Salvation Army.

The show then moved to the Holiday Inn in DeKalb, and later had multiple other homes: at the Sycamore Armory, the IUE Union Hall, the House Café, Feed ‘Em Soup and at the Taylor Street High Rise, Mullis told The MidWeek in 2019.

A memorial service for Mullis will be held at a later date, according to his obituary. In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made in care to the Finch Funeral Home, 310 Oak St., DeKalb.