John Chrystal (1926-2000) was a farmer, banker, Democratic party leader, advisor and citizen ambassador to the Soviet Union. Chrystal attended Central Missouri State University and Notre Dame University before receiving a Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics (1949) at the University of Iowa, and an Associate of Science Degree in Small Business Management (1989) at Iowa Lakes Community College, Emmetsburg, Iowa.



Chrystal was a member of the Garst family and his career was closely associated with that of Roswell Garst and other family members. His mother, Dorothy Garst, was Roswell Garst's sister and his father, I. G. Chrystal, served in the Iowa State Senate. After the death of his mother Chrystal was raised by the Roswell Garst family. Roswell Garst owned a seed corn company and hosted Russian Premier Nikita Khrushchev on a tour of his farming operation in the late 1950s. John Chrystal served as a managing partner of the Garst and Thomas Hybrid Seed Corn Company and as a partner in the Chrystal Brothers Farming Partnership in Coon Rapids, Iowa.



After leaving the Navy in 1946 and obtaining his degree from the University of Iowa, Chrystal raised grain and cattle in the Coon Rapids, Iowa, area from 1949-1959. In 1959, he left farming and began a career in banking and public service.



Chrystal's career in Iowa banking was extensive. Positions held include President, Chair, and Director of the Iowa Savings Bank in Coon Rapids, Iowa, and managing director of such Iowa banks as the Audubon State Bank, Audubon; the Home State Bank, Jefferson; the Perry State Bank, Perry; and the Raccoon Valley State Bank in Adel. In 1970 Chrystal became Director of Bankers Trust Company in Des Moines, and eventually served as its Chairman, President and CEO.



Chrystal's public service record is also long. Positions held include service as Superintendent of Banking for the state of Iowa, 1963-1969; member, Iowa Commission on Interstate Cooperation, 1963; member, Iowa Board of Regents, 1963-1965; chair of the State Banking Board, 1966; President, Iowa Transfer System, 1973; president, Iowa Bankers Association, 1973; member, Iowa State University President's Advisory Board and Iowa College Foundation; member, Iowa Farmer /Creditor Mediation Service Board, 1986-1988.



Throughout his career, Chrystal was active in Iowa and national Democratic politics and supported liberal causes. In 1990, Chrystal ran on the Democratic ticket for governor in the Iowa primary election. He chaired campaigns for Harold Hughes, Tom Harkin, and John Culver. He served as president of the Iowa Civil Liberties Union in 1973 and was a member of the National Advisory Council of the American Civil Liberties Union from 1973-1978. He actively supported organizations such as Planned Parenthood, Farm Aid, Business People for Peace, and the Iowa Peace Institute.



Chrystal's ties to the Soviet Union began in 1958 when he met Nikita Khrushchev during the Soviet premier's visit to Iowa and the Garst family farm. In 1960 and 1963 Chrystal and Roswell Garst traveled together to the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe as citizen ambassadors and agricultural advisors. In 1972, Garst and Chrystal hosted another Russian delegation to Iowa, this time to Coon Rapids. Between 1960 and 1989, Chrystal was invited repeatedly to visit the Soviet Union to offer advice about agriculture. He visited approximately sixteen times and led efforts to help modernize farming and agricultural infrastructure systems in Russia, Georgia, and Ukraine and to improve trade relations between those countries and the United States. In 1994, President Clinton appointed Chrystal to the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a federal agency with economic development projects in the former Soviet Union. Chrystal was an active member, serving as a board member and director of OPIC. In 1995, Chrystal accompanied United States President Bill Clinton on his trip to Moscow, Russia, Kiev, and the Ukraine.



Chrystal was a frequent participant in national and regional governmental and professional seminars and conferences on international agriculture and business. He was also interviewed often and frequently contributed editorials to Iowa and national newspapers on those subjects.



Chrystal died on January 19, 2000. He was posthumously awarded the Global Citizen Award in April 2000.