Elaine was a brilliant, fun, and accomplished woman ahead of her time. Born in Oak Park, Illinois to the late Natalie and Wilfred Kruse, Elaine was one of 4 girls. Her entire life, she enjoyed spending as much time as possible at Lake James with her family swimming the buoys and greeting cousins and extended family.
Elaine was an accomplished academic and continued to be curious her entire retirement. She attended Grace River Forest (class of ‘54)and Walther High School (class of ‘58) and Augustana College(class of ‘62) studying French. While working on her Masters in History at the University of Illinois Champaign (1962 – 1964), she also gave birth to her daughters Dawn and Diane. She earned her PhD in History from the University of Iowa(class of ‘83). After several instructorships, Elaine found her home as a Professor of History at Nebraska Wesleyan and held many leadership positions including President of the Faculty. She held her students and colleagues in high esteem and loved them like family. Elaine was a true feminist, finding ways to bring women’s stories and roles to light in all her syllabi, papers, and talks.
An avid traveler, Elaine first studied abroad in Paris as an undergrad and returned for each of her year long sabbaticals. She was happy to share her flat with visiting friends and family, and always joined for tea and a tour of Musee D’Orsay. When not traveling with family, Elaine had the best of times with friends. She was a voracious reader, lover of chocolate, continuous cat guardian, and incessant tennis fan.
Elaine was a lifelong proud Lutheran and humanitarian. She was a member of First Lutheran Church in Lincoln, and found a faith community everywhere she spent time where she would make and maintain deep connections. Hostess with the mostess- entertained others with ease and pleasure,whether for meals or stays of long or short duration. She enjoyed gifting books to her grandchildren and great grandchildren, and in her latest chapter was especially fond of watching them swim.
While Elaine’s passing is sudden, it was peaceful and she said regularly her life was full and she felt cheated of nothing. Elaine joins her parents, grandson Brad, and granddaughters Olivia and Penlope in heaven. Those left to honor her legacy include her sisters Margaret Kruse, Kathy (Gene) Neer, Roberta (Mike) Gillespie; daughters Dawn Kuehn and Diane (Kevin) Wild; grandchildren Nicole (Rusty) Robb, Cory (Monica) Capper, Christopher (Chelsea) Capper, Bridget (Benjamin Kornfeld) Wild; great grandchildren Haylie, Kayla, Eleanor, Louella, Nolan, Frederick, Theodore, Michael, Mabel, Kirby, Mackenzie, Lydia and Mia; her nieces and nephews and numerous extended relatives. Elaine’s body will be cremated and interred with her parents in Illinois. The family plans to hold celebrations of life in Oak Park, Illinois at a later date.
Services will be held on Saturday, December 6th at First Lutheran Church 1551 S 70th Street Lincoln, Nebraska. The funeral will be held at 11 am.
If desired, in lieu of flowers, friends may make memorial contributions to Nebraska Wesleyan University, Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, or Augustana College.