Ardyce Kruse

Ardyce Kruse, age 92, of Albert City, Iowa died June 6, 2018 at the Pleasant View Home in Albert City. Funeral services will be held Monday, June 11, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. at the First United Church in Sioux Rapids. Burial will follow in the Lone Tree Cemetery. Visitation will take place Sunday, June 10, 2018 from 5-7:00 p.m. at the Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake. The Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake is in charge of the arrangements. Ardyce Jean Johnson was born on a farm near Sioux Rapids, Iowa on November 24, 1925 to George H and Josephine (Monson) Johnson. She was the youngest of the family which included older brother John and older sisters Leah and Margaret. She was baptized in infancy at the German Lutheran Church in Buffalo Lake, MN. She joined the First Methodist Church in Sioux Rapids when she was 10 years old and started her teaching career as a Sunday school teacher for several years. Ardyce received her grade school education at Cornell Consolidated schools and transferred to Sioux Rapids for her junior high and senior high school years. Ardyce was the Valedictorian of the Sioux Rapids Class of 1943. Graduation was followed by 12 weeks of classes at Buena Vista College in Storm Lake that earned her a State of Iowa teaching certificate. She taught rural school in Buena Vista County at Lincoln #7 for two years followed by two years at the Greenville Rossie Schools. She maintained her teaching certificate by taking classes at Buena Vista College. After raising her children she taught school at Marathon, Iowa for ten years. Ardyce married Rollie W. Kruse on June 22, 1947. They made their home on the farm right across the road from her first teaching assignment at Lincoln #7. To this union three children were born: Marcia, Glen, and Gary. Ardyce joined the St John’s Evangelical and Reformed Church of rural Newell, Iowa when she and Rollie married. She was member of the church’s Women’s Fellowship and had served as the group president and was the group’s treasurer when St John’s UCC closed in 2012. Ardyce enjoyed farm life. She helped Rollie raise the livestock and the crops all the while raising the children. She was a Girl Scout leader and a Cub Scout leader. She welcomed many a stranded motorist into their home on highway 3. As travelers Rollie and Ardyce got to see the country from Washington DC to the state of Washington. Yellowstone, the Black Hills, the wheat fields of Montana and fishing in Minnesota were among their favorite trips. Later in life Rollie and Ardyce learned to Polka. Most weekends would find them at Polka Festivals and Ballroom dancing in Northwest Iowa and Southwest Minnesota. They made many new friends from all over the United States at the dances. Ardyce was preceded in death by her husband Rollie; her parents; parents-in-laws; her brother John and sisters Leah Sanderson and Margaret Owens; brother-in-law’s Don Sanderson, Dee Owens, Phil Betz, Roger Olson, and Kenneth Boese; sister-in-law’s Geneva Betz, Verna Olson, and Ann Johnson. Those left to cherish her memory include her children: Marcia Timm of Salem, Oregon, Glen (Pat) Kruse, of Sioux City, Iowa, and Gary Kruse of Albert City, Iowa; grandchildren: Jeremy Timm, Stephanie Timm (Paul Stetler), Chad (Sonja) Timm, Justin (Jodee) Kruse, Kevin Kruse, Andrea (Gayland) Garber, Derek Kruse, Nicole Grace, and Allison Kruse (Jeremy Ramasir); great grandchildren: Tyler Timm, Gabriel Timm, Hayes and Sylvie Stetler, Nia McClary, Aubrie Grace, Kami Kruse and Karli Kruse; sister-in-law Jeanette Boese and brother-in-law Roger (Jane) Kruse; extended family and friends.

Ardyce Kruse

November 24, 1925 - June 6, 2018