Mildred Mae "Milly" (Matthies) Kruse

Funeral services for Mildred Mae Kruse, 98, of Norfolk, will be 10:30 a.m., Friday, July 20, 2018, at Christ Lutheran Church, Norfolk. Reverend David Goehmann will officiate. Burial will be in Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery, Norfolk. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the church. Home for Funerals is in charge of the arrangements.

On her 99th trip around the sun Mildred Mae Kruse (98) passed away peacefully July 16, 2018 at Heritage of Bel Air. "Milly" was born March 31, 1920 on a farm south of Wisner, NE. Her parents were Herbert and Anna (Vyborny) Matthies. She attended country school Dist. 33 and usually walked the 2 miles to school. Her favorite teacher was Juanita Daniel. They kept in touch until Juanita's death. She graduated from Wisner High School in 1937 and attended her 80th high school reunion in 2017.

She was raised with no electricity, running water, plumbing or phones.

Following graduation, she went to work in Dr. Mullong's office in Norfolk and graduated from Norfolk Business College finishing her curriculum at night. This is when she met her future husband, Clarence Kruse.

Milly then accepted a position with the U.S. Department of War in 1939 in Washington D.C. She returned to Nebraska in 1941 and was united in marriage to Clarence Kruse Oct 12, 1941 at Christ Lutheran Church in Norfolk.

They farmed west of Pilger and were members of St. John's Lutheran Church in Pilger. In 1968 they moved to Wisner and purchased a grocery store, Kruse IGA. They owned/operated the store until 1979 when they moved to Norfolk. She worked for the Madison County Extension office in Battle Creek, NE for several years.

When her husband passed in 2011, she moved to the Meadows and in 2015 she moved to Heritage of Bel Air.

Milly was a member of Christ Lutheran Church and loved her Lord who had always blessed her richly.

She was preceded in death by her parents, both of whom passed in 1966, her brother, Lester Matthies and her loving husband of 69 years, Clarence Kruse. She is survived by her daughter and spouse, Suzi and Terry Carson, Battle Creek, NE, and son and spouse Kipp and Linda Kruse, Lincoln, NE.

Also surviving are 5 grandchildren, Jeremy & Carrie Carson, Jill Carson and Jackson Kardell, Colby & Amy Kruse, Julie and Scott Nielsen and Hilary and Brent Behrens. Milly had 13 great grandchildren, Lane, Reid, and Will Carson, Lucy and Townsend Holan, Jayda, Londyn, and Ryder Kruse, Owen and Bella Nielsen and Miles, Stella and Scarlett Behrens. She is also survived by many nieces and nephews.  Honorary pallbearers will be her grandchildren.

She was a devoted mother, grandmother and great grandmother. Milly highly valued education and was a voracious reader. She loved to write, solve puzzles, play rummikub and was a very skilled bridge player until her very last days.

 Service Information