Jack {Aage} Delors Brodersen Kruse ~ Mar. 15/12~Sep. 26/84 ~ my father, died as a result of cancer at the age of 72. Born in Denmark, Dad came to Canada as a young man unable to speak the language and created a life for himself. Below you will find the eulogy I delivered at his funeral.

Jack Kruse was perhaps best known as an accomplished chef, and not without good reason. His self-taught abilities in the kitchen took him from washing dishes as a young man in Manitoba to operating his own catering business before his retirement.

Before moving to Campbell River in 1953, Dad had cooked for the late actor, Clark Gable, on a hunting trip; for the Merchant Marine on a trip to China; for the Royal Canadian Air Force during and after WWII; for the highway crews building the Island Highway near Fanny Bay; for hotel dining rooms and logging camps.

M parents operated the former Bright Spot Cafe for about three years before he returned to working for other people in hotels and logging camps. Dad also cooked for many local organizations at banquets, parties, and luncheons. He was involved with the Remembrance Day breakfast for fifteen straight years.

For some, it may be difficult to remember him without his white shirt and apron but there were many other aspects to my father and I would like to share some of them with you.

As a young man growing up in Denmark, he watched an airplane flying overhead and vowed to fly one alone some day. When he was nearly 50 years old, Dad took his first solo flight in a small Cesna aircraft and attained that goal. He stopped short of getting his pilot's license but the pilots that flew him in and out of logging camps often let him take the controls and he loved it.

In later years, Dad took up the sport of golf and discovered that, although he was a right-handed man, he was a left-handed golfer. Those who golfed with him will remember that he liked to win but, win or lose, he loved the game.

During the past couple of years, Dad developed new hobbies such as gardening, carpentry, clock-making, and playing rummy. As a gardener, he was impatient for results but was very proud when he got them. As a carpenter, he was very productive and their home has many new shelves, cupboards, cabinets, flower boxes, and bird houses to prove it. As a clock-maker, he was artistic and many homes in Campbell River, Manitoba, and Denmark are graced with the beautiful burl clocks that he produced. And, as a rummy player, he loved to win and was very proud of his status as the family champion.

But those of us that knew him the best and loved him the most knew him as a husband, father, and grandfather. He brought something unique to each of those roles and every member of our family will have special moments to remember.

We will remember him as a funny man with a contagious sense of humour; as a good friend; as a man who could be moved to tears, either through sorrow or laughter. Dad was not a man without faults but time will erase them.

Margaret Anne (Blaine) Kruse ~ Oct. 30/14 ~ Feb. 16/99 ~ my mother, passed away in her sleep after a brief illness.

We are here to honour the life of and mourn the passing of the woman born Margaret Annie Blain in Stockton, Manitoba on October 30, 1914. Most of you knew her as Anne Kruse .. those of us who knew her the best and loved her the most called her Mum, Grandma, Nan, and Auntie Anne. Some of you may not have known her at all but are here to support a family member and share in their loss. Whatever reason you are here, I'd like to share a few facets of my mother that you may or may not have caught a glimpse of as she passed through this life. And I use the word facets because she truly was a gem of the finest quality.
Mum was the oldest of three sisters, the other two being Mary and Ruth. Aunt Mary was close enough to Mum's age to not take much sass from her but, from what I understand, Aunt Ruth was the object of many a whim such as being told to go stand in the garden and watch the rhubarb grow .. or being tied to the piano leg so she would stay put when Mum was baby-sitting her. But this same woman went away to work and did without as she sent money home to help buy her baby sister a warm coat when times were tough. To Mum, this was never thought of as a sacrifice .. this was just what you did when you loved someone and many of us were blessed by her generosity over the years.
Sometime in the late 30's, Mum met a young Danish immigrant who couldn't speak a word of English but he must have been able to convey some kind of message for they were eventually married in 1938 and started their family in 1939 with the birth of Lillian Edele Ruth, commonly known as either Edele or "Daddy's girl." Anne and Jack's family grew to include two more daughters, Jacqueline Anne and Christine Anne.
Through necessity, Mum was a working mother but she was able to pursue a career she enjoyed. Waitressing is hard work and often thought of as a no-talent job. My mother did work hard at her craft but she brought many talents to it, not the least of which was her ability to earn the respect and affection of customers and co-workers alike. "It doesn't matter what you do in life," she'd tell us, "as long as you do it to the best of your ability." I can't tell you how many times that phrase has echoed in my mind throughout the years. My own family can tell you that it was later shortened to "if you're going to do it, do it right." Sometimes, I hear my mother speaking through my mouth.
Her career in Campbell River restaurants started in 1953 when my parents purchased the Bright Spot Cafe and our family moved here from Courtenay. Later on, Dad cooked for logging camps or hotels as Mum waitressed at the old Willows Hotel and then at the original Bee Hive Cafe where she worked for 19 years. In the ensuing years it was difficult to walk through town with Mum without her being recognized and greeted affectionately by many former customers. She loved that and I was proud of her.
During my 20's, my mother and I became best friends and got to know each other as women, trancending the traditional mother/daughter relationship. There was a lot of family togetherness in those days and our houses rocked with a lot of laughter. My beloved grandmother was often the ring leader of the shenanigans and one particular vision that will never leave my mind is the sight of my mother and grandmother fighting over a tea towel until the two of them ended up on the pantry floor .. my mother sitting on my grandmother and both of them laughing too hard to get up. The rest of us were also laughing too hard to help. This was the type of image that would come to mind and bring a smile and chuckle when someone would tell me that my mother was such a lady. Life was not easy for the lady known as Anne. Grief has chipped away at her over the years as she suffered many losses .. her oldest daughter in 1966, her beloved son-in-law in 1973, her husband in 1984, her mother in 1990, and her sister, Mary, in 1997. Each of those deaths took a piece of my mother with them but now, as an unimaginable piece has gone out of my own life, I know in my heart that she is in very good company.
Without this precious link in our ancestry seven of us would not be here with you now...There would be no Christine or her children, Nathaniel and Kaitlen, there would be no Jacqueline or my daughters, Terri and Sandi .. or my granddaughter, Edele. Without the precious Lady Anne, there would not have been so much laughter, so much loving, so much wisdom, and a lot less class in this family. Mum was the nucleus that we all revolved around and I know that we will be spinning a little off course for a while now but with the guidance and strength she gave us during her lifetime, we will pull it back together and go on as she would have wanted us to.
As my own life progresses, I see more and more of my mother in the mirror but I know without a shadow of a doubt that I will never be just like her. There was only one Anne Kruse .. she was an original .. something so unique .. I was pleased and honoured to call her my mother, my friend. She blessed every member of the family in a special way and no friend will every forget her.
On behalf of the family I would like to thank you all for sharing this memorial tribute with us. We also extend our gratitude to the friends that were so kind to her in her last few years. I'm sure my mother is smiling down at us now. And Maxine is probably taking note of who showed up.

My mother .. the wind beneath my wings

EstherRuth (Blaine) Gregory ~ May 5/27 ~ September 22/05~ passed away after a valiant fight with cancer.

EULOGY FOR MY "SILVER-HAIRED AUNTIE"

I'd like to begin with a few words from the poet, Maya Angelou.

The beauty of a woman isn't in the clothes she wears,
The figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair.

The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes,
Because that's the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides.

The beauty of a woman, isn't in a facial mole,
But true beauty in a woman, is reflected by her soul.

It's the caring that she cares to give, the passion that she shows,
And the beauty of woman, with passing years, only grows.

That was our Ruth.

Esther Ruth Blaine was born on May 5th, 1927 in Stockton, Manitoba and left us on September 22, 2005 in Comox, British Columbia. Those are the statistics but all they tell us about Aunt Ruth is that she blessed our family for 78 years, 4 months and 17 days. They don't tell you just how deeply she blessed our family, that she was truly a gift from God to our family, or that she will live on in our memories as long as any of us present here today draw breath and beyond that in stories that are passed down through the generations.

Each one of us has at least one story of her humour, her loving nature, and her expertise as a teacher, her value as a friend, a wife, a mother, a grandmother, or an Aunt. To me, my "silver-hair Auntie", as I came to call her in later years, was also a partner in crime when it came to frustrating or embarrassing her older sister, my mother, Anne Kruse.

But my memories go way back before she had the silver hair. Ruth was still in her teens when I arrived on the scene and although my earliest memories of her are sketchy, I do remember a sense of fun and the sound of laughter whenever she was around. I know that my grandmother, her mother, loved her beyond measure in spite of the stories I've been told about the mischief she got into.

I asked my older daughter, Terri, how she would describe Aunt Ruth and she immediately started to laugh..."funny", she said..."a great sense of humour..and," she added "just like Grandma, a 'tell it like it is' type of woman. She and Grandma were so much alike."

My younger daughter, Sandi, said, "If I had to pick one phrase to describe my Aunt Ruth it would be 'young at heart'. I remember her for her crazy sense of humour. I remember the 'Ruthisms'...a language all her own. I'll always remember her youthful smile. Sometimes at family gatherings I'd catch Aunt Ruth and Grandma having a hushed conversation followed by a giggle. I loved seeing how close they were, but you knew they were up to no-good. She and Uncle Moose never forgot 'The Girls' (Terri and I)...every Christmas, Easter, Birthday...and as we grew she would ask about how we were and what was going on in our lives whenever she spoke to Grandma or Mom. I remember and admire her strength and courage."

A childhood friend of mine, Roberta Case, wrote, "I'm so sorry to hear Ruth has gone...she was a great lady full of goofiness and fun."

We all saw the fun side of Ruth but there were other facets to this awesome woman. She was caring, intelligent, and loving. She was a loving daughter to my grandparents, Leonard and Martha Blaine; a loving sister to my mother, Anne, and their sister, Mary; a loving wife to Merrill Gregory and a loving mother to their son, Blaine. Her love expanded to include Blaine's wife, Kathy, and their daughter, Alyssa. Those of us who called her "Aunt" and friend were also blessed to be in her circle of love. For the past six years, since my mother passed away, Aunt Ruth assumed the role of my confidant and friend. I could share anything with her and often did.

In the past year or so, our phone conversations often turned to the distant past beyond my memories. I learned things about my own childhood that I'd never heard before. We wanted dearly to sit toghether and chat about those old days but time and circumstance just never allowed it. Thank God I was able to gather up my daughter, Terri, and her baby daughter, Abigail, and pay a surprise visit to the Gregory household this past Easter. As always, their hospitality was beyond measure, but I knew in my heart that it was the last time I would see my "silver-haired Auntie" this side of Heaven. And yet, her concern was still for others...how was I doing, she'd ask on the phone...how were 'the girls'...take care of yourself she'd say..and always, she'd end our conversations with, "I love you, Dear."

My consolation in this time of loss is that Ruth has had the best care available to her whether she was in the hospital or at home with Uncle Moose. His deep love for her has been evident in how he has cared for her and looked after her for so many years. We used to joke about how his work was never done but in all seriousness, it often wasn't. Our family's gratitude goes out to you, Moose, for taking such good care of one of our family treasures.

I know that Ruth Gregory is not really gone. She lives on in the hearts of everyone here and will live on in stories told to those who never actually got to know her. The 'Ruthisms', as Sandi called them, will be passed down through the generations and we will smile or giggle whenever a "Ruth story' comes to mind.

How much richer all our lives have been because she was a part of them! How much richer our lives will continue to be because of memories of Esther Ruth Blaine Gregory, my silver-haired Auntie. May she rest in peace.

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