Slain UCLA professor William Klug a devout Christian, beloved Little League coach and father of two

A memorial fund for slain UCLA professor William Klug had raised more than $33,000 through this moing for his family in El Segundo, a small, close-knit town where residents are still reeling from his death.

Klug, a husband and father killed Wednesday in his engineering building office on the UCLA campus, was known as “Coach” in the Little League where he volunteered for several years and was recently named manager of the AAA Padres.

“Bill’s assistant coaches, players and team family, along with the entire league, are trying to make sense of this horrifying and violent tragedy,” El Segundo Little League President Peter Gianusso wrote on Facebook. “Unfortunately, there are no easy answers.”

League officials, Gianusso said, will honor Klug, 39, with a moment of silence at 5 p.m. Saturday at the league’s closing ceremony.

By 9:15 a.m., a gofundme.com page tied to the Little League had raised more than $31,000 for Klug’s family, who sequestered themselves in his home about a block from Recreation Park. On Wednesday, in the hours after his death, media descended upon the family soon after they leaed of Klug’s death. Klug was the father of a son and daughter.

Family members declined comment and sent reporters away.

Established by “the El Segundo Community,” the page described Klug as a “loving father, great coach and a valued member of this close-knit Califoia town.”

“Bill meant a lot to this town, and so much more to his beautiful family,” the page said. “To have his life taken in this senseless and violent way is incomprehensible. Please give whatever you can to support his family and the legacy he leaves both in his community and at UCLA.”

A second gofundme.com page had raised about $11,000.

Klug, an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, was killed Wednesday moing in his office. The gunman, identified as Mainak Sarkar, was a former doctoral student of Klug’s. According to Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck, Klug’s name was on a “kill list.” Police who searched Sarkar’s Miesota home discovered a body, police said Thursday.

In an online blog post, Sarkar said they had “personal differences.”

“William Klug, UCLA Professor, is not the kind of person when you think of a professor. He is a very sick person. I urge every new student coming to UCLA to stay away from this guy,” Mainak wrote.

Sarkar accused Klug of stealing “all my code” and giving it to another student.

“He made me really sick,” Sarkar wrote. “Your enemy is your enemy. But your friend can do a lot more harm. Be careful about whom you trust. Stay away from this sick guy.”

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But students across the country disagreed, many posting online tributes on social media.

Andy Lachtman, an online student in Arlington, Virginia, called Klug a “great teacher and an inspiration,” even though the two had never met.

“You always went above and beyond to ensure that your online students at UCLA received the same amazing education as the on-campus students,” Lachtman wrote in a tribute on Facebook. “You would personally respond to my emails, even though you could have let the T.A. handle the questions.”

Former student Joseph Lee wrote that Klug was “without a doubt the kindest professor in the UCLA MAE department.

“He wrote a letter of recommendation for me for my graduate school applications and helped me immensely to where I am today as an engineer,” Lee wrote. “He had a genuine care for all of his students and wanted to see each one succeed. I take comfort in the fact that he was a believer in Jesus Christ and is now with Him in heaven, but still caot believe he has passed from this life.”

Klug graduated in 1997 from Westmont College, a Christian liberal arts college in Montecito, with a bachelor’s degree in engineering physics. He eaed a master’s degree at UCLA and a doctorate at Caltech in Pasadena.

In 2004, an article in Westmont Magazine said that while Klug was at Caltech, he conducted research on blunt head trauma and bacteriophage viruses that one day might help fight disease.

Five years after graduating from Westmont, he got his job at UCLA. At the time, he was younger than some of his students.

“I’m very conscious of my age,” Klug told the magazine.

Klug’s wife, Mary Elise Richter Klug, also majored in engineering physics and eaed a master’s degree in civil engineering at UCLA. His wife, the article said, encouraged him to go into teaching.

Faith played a major roll in his scientific studies.

“Knowing there is a God responsible for the world makes a big difference in my motivation to understand it better,” Klug told the magazine. “I developed a habit of relying on God for what I felt was beyond my ability to control or what I couldn’t do for myself. It helps me keep things in the right perspective.”