Kathryn A. Kruse

Kathryn “Kay” Ann Kruse, age 87, of Lidderdale, Iowa passed away on Friday, April 23, 2010 at Regency Park Nursing Home in Carroll. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 A.M. on Tuesday, April 27, 2010 at Immanuel Lutheran Church with Pastor William Weiss officiating. Friends may call at the Dahn and Woodhouse Funeral Home in Carroll after 5:00 P.M. on Monday. A prayer service will be held at 7:00 P.M. The casket will be moved to the church at 8:30 A.M. on Tuesday to lie in state until the time of service. Organist for the service will be Mrs. Agnes Onken. Casket bearers will be Kay’s Grandchildren. Burial will be in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery near Lidderdale. Born on February 24, 1923 at State Center, Iowa she was the daughter of Samuel and Maude (Nichols) Whinery. She grew up in Bangor, Iowa, and graduated from Union High School in 1941. She attended Ellsworth College in Iowa Falls where she earned a degree in bookkeeping. Kay worked at the Carroll County Social Welfare Office after college. Kay was baptized and confirmed at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Carroll. She married Elmer Kruse on October 27, 1945 in Auburn, Iowa at the Lutheran Parsonage by Pastor Fritz. Kay and Elmer raised their family on the Kruse family farm three miles south of Lidderdale where she was involved in all aspects of the farming operation. She worked as a cook/baker at Fairview Elementary School in Carroll retiring in 1993. As a member of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Lidderdale, she was active in Ladies Aid, choir, LWML, quilters, and altar guild. In her spare time she enjoyed baking, sewing, gardening, quilting, and spending time with her family and her grandchildren. Surviving are her husband of 64 years, Elmer, of Lidderdale; four sons: Larry Kruse and his wife Dahna of Omaha, Nebraska, Duane Kruse and his wife Deb of Glidden; Ron Kruse and his wife Yanna of Yuma, Arizona, and Dean Kruse of Lidderdale; her grandchildren: Keri Garrison and her husband Dan of Knoxville, Iowa, Kim Kruse and his wife Melissa of Knoxville, Iowa, Nicole Kruse of Boston, Massachusetts, Brian Kruse and his wife Lisa of St. Louis, Missouri, Karl Kruse of Irvine, California, Marc Kruse of Cottage Grove, Wisconsin, Brad Kruse of Burnsville, Minnesota, Noah and Luke Kruse of Yuma, Arizona; two great grandsons: Austin and Kaden Kruse; sisters-in-law Winifred Whinery of Vancouver, Washington; Lorene Connor of Jefferson, Iowa; Norma Kruse of Ft. Collins, Colorado; and a brother-in-law Louis Grade of Carroll. Kay was preceded in death by her parents, her son Kenneth in 1990, a brother Lawrence Whinery, and a sister and brother-in-law Jean and Albert Schluter.