Judith Kay Kruse, age 74, passed away
peacefully on November 11, 2022 after battling ALS.
She was born on December 28, 1947 in
Newton, Kansas to Willis and Lucille Andres.
Judy grew up on a wheat farm just
outside Newton, and loved to regale her family with tales of her
adventures on the farm with her sisters, Janice and Jane. She
attended Kansas State University, where she earned an Associates
degree in horticulture and met her future husband, Alan Kruse. They
married in 1968 and moved to Colorado in 1973, where they raised
their four children. Judy was a talented seamstress, home-maker and
dedicated super-mom who loved to take her family on camping and
skiing trips in the Rocky Mountains.
After a divorce in 1987, Judy?s love
of airplanes drew her to the aviation industry, where she entered the
workforce in the aircraft maintenance sector at Colorado AeroTech. In
1990, she moved her family to Phoenix, Arizona, where she lived for 9
years. Many career advances later, and with a move to San Francisco,
California, she was managing aircraft sales for Bank of America in
their leasing division. She would happily tell us exactly what kind
of plane was in the sky with a single glance.
She was an adventurous and wise soul
who loved to travel, camp under the stars, explore the desert, and
spend time at the beach, always with family and friends surrounding
her. She was extraordinary in the friendships she made and nurtured.
As a grandmother she was infinitely patient, playful, and loving.
She was diagnosed with ALS in February
2022, after experiencing symptoms which began in the summer of 2021.
She continually had a positive attitude and sense of humor in the
face of the brutal disease that is ALS.
Judy is survived by her four children,
Camille Schneider (Peter), Angela Kruse, Allison White (David), and
Jesse Kruse (Sana); and five grandchildren, Ashley and Aubrey
Schneider, and Isabella, Evelyn, and Aiden White, whom she loved more
than anything. She is also survived by her sister, Jane Powers.
There will be a private ceremony to
scatter her ashes in the places she loved. Donations ?in memory?
may be made to the ALS Association at als.org or By the Bay Health
(hospice) at bythebayhealth.org.
