Kruse, H. O. (d. 1922)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 23 Dec 1925 p. 4

Birth date:

text of obituary:

AN APPRECIATION

(Professor Kruse was very prominently active in Bethel College. His exceptional qualifications as educator enabled him to lay the foundation for the high standard and scholarship in Bethel College. He died in 1922.)

In the death of Professor H. O. Kruse the German department has suffered an irreparable loss. He was called to the department from among numerous candidates because of his superior qualifications at a time of rapid growth and expansion in the department. He had been a teacher of science but the language and literature of his mother tongue had a fascination for him which won him when the opportunity came to teach them. No teacher ever loved his work more ardently nor devoted himself more unselfishly to the requirements of his students. Teaching for him was a high calling in which his conscience was as much his guide as it was in his religion. His thoroughness, his fairness and his geniality in his class-room work called forth the best efforts and the lasting friendship of his students. In the advanced courses which he offered he was recognized as an authority. He never made a display of his scholarship but his students were always profoundly impressed by the breadth and depth of his lectures.

Among his colleagues in the department his counsel was always sought and his judgment had a great weight in the consideration of departmental problems and policies. In all the extra activities of the department such as putting on plays, giving illustrated lectures and conducting the Verein he was a moving spirit. As chairman of the department library committee for many years he was in his element, for he loved books and was an inveterate reader and his love of order was made manifest in the very complete cataloguing system which he worked out. He believed in harmony and cooperation and was always willing to do more than his share in order to insure unity in the work of the department. But the joy in his work and the contentment in his position were rudely shocked by the war which brought pain to his sensitive soul and temporary uncertainty as to his career and there is no doubt but the strain contributed to the breakdown in his health.

In character and personality Professor Kruse possessed a strength and a charm which impressed those most who knew him best. He hated sham, pretense and display, but he was tolerant and generous to a fault. He responded beyond his means to every good cause that appealed to him. His extreme modesty prevented him from improving opportunities for prominence which others of less merit would capitalize for their personal advantage. He was a pronounced idealist in whose presence and influence all sordid ambitions faded away. His life and work in the University have left a blessed memory for all who were fortunate enough to know him.

E. F. Engel.