Larry Frederick Kruse was born Nov. 27, 1943, in San Francisco, California, to Ervin Frederick and Mildred Lucille (Jording) Kruse, the eldest of two sons. His mother remarried while he was quite young, and he was raised by his step-father, Veere Cochran, along with two step-brothers.
He grew up in northwest Kansas and spent his formative years in the Selden community, graduating from Selden Rural High School in 1961. He attended Fort Hays State University and graduated with a Baccalaureate Degree in 1966, a Master's Degree in 1969, and was named the recipient of the first Fort Hays State University Furlough Scholarship. While at FHSU, he married Nikki Lynn Pope on May 25, 1965. Four daughters were born to this union, which later ended in divorce.
Larry spent his professional career in education, serving first as a high school teacher at Triplains High School in Winona, Kansas and then as one of the first faculty members at Barton County Community College in Great Bend, Kansas. He then became the Dean of Student Services at Seward County Community College from 1974 until 1991.
On December 31, 1982, he was united in marriage to Cecelia Shaw Krause. The family moved to Stillwater, Oklahoma, in 1991 where Larry assumed responsibility for the recruitment and admission of new students at Oklahoma State University. While at OSU, Larry earned a Doctorate in Higher Education Administration. He continued in his position at OSU for 12 years before accepting the position of Vice President for Student Services at Cameron University, a post he held until his retirement in 2006.
During his 40-year career in education he held leadership positions in several organizations including President of the Kansas Community College Deans of Student Services; Vice-president and President-elect of the Kansas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators; President of the Barton County Community College Faculty Association; Board of Directors Kansas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators; Advisory Board of the Higher Education Assistance Foundation; ACT Regional Council; two-time selectee for the Council of North Central Dean's Academy; selectee for the National Financial Aid Leadership Conference; and Regional Representative for the Rocky Mountain Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.
He was also a member of many civic and social organizations including the Masonic Lodge since 1968, the BPOE, Lions Club, volunteer for American Heart Association, and volunteer for the American Cancer Society. He was a founding member of the Mid-America Air Museum in Liberal, Kansas; and served on the Chamber of Commerce Education Committee while in Liberal. He was a life-long member of the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod.
He was the recipient of many awards during his career, including being named to Outstanding Young Men of America, listed in Who's Who in American Education, being inducted into Phi Kappa Phi, the National Honorary Academic Fraternity, and selected to Leadership Lawton. An entertaining speaker, he delivered the keynote address to the Kansas Author's Convention, the Kansas Press Women's Annual Convention, and spoke at numerous banquets, conventions, high school and community college commencements, and various other meetings throughout his professional life. He both published articles and made presentations throughout the nation on his area of expertise, enrollment management, and wrote his doctoral dissertation on the same subject as it related to community colleges in Kansas and Oklahoma.
Throughout his entire life he continued to pursue a hobby that he had begun as a young boy--designing, building and flying model airplanes. He won many national championships and awards for his designs, and published over 900 articles for national model aviation magazines. He wrote for the national publication, Flying Models magazine, for over 40 years, including writing a monthly column called "Free Flight Sport" from 1982 until 2013. For his efforts in the hobby, he was named to the National Free Flight Hall of Fame in 2005, the Flying Aces Hall of Fame in 2010, and the Academy of Model Aeronautics Model Aviation Hall of Fame in 2014.
More important than his many professional and avocation successes, Larry dedicated his life to helping young people make good choices and succeed in their own lives. As was said of him upon his retirement from Cameron University, "More important than the various positions in which Larry has excelled are the number of students' lives he has forever altered and impacted. His legacy is one to be admired and applauded."
He delighted in the progress of his own children and grandchildren, showing love and support for all of their successes as well as their failures, and making sure they knew his love was unconditional. While he was not intrusive as they grew into adulthood, he was always there; ready to advise and assist when they came to him.
He was pre-deceased by his parents, grandparents, and step-brothers Larry and Myron Cochran. Survivors include his loving wife, Cecelia, of the home; brother, Terry (Nancy) Kruse, Russellville, Missouri; children, Shawna (Clarence) Pittser, Liberal, Kansas; Koby Krause, Pewaukee, Wisconsin; Kory (Julie) Krause, Liberal, Kansas; Kimberly (Mark) Coople, Salina, Kansas; Kerri (Kenneth) Lee, Bel Air, Kansas; Keela (Darcy) Nickel, Goessel, Kansas; Kalynn Kruse, Dallas, Texas; eight grandchildren, and thirteen great-grandchildren.
Larry passed away on Monday, August 2, 2021, after a valiant battle with a rare and aggressive form of cancer. There will be no funeral arrangements at this time. A Celebration of Life will be scheduled at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be sent to the “Dr. Larry F. and Cecelia A. Kruse Scholarship" fund at the Seward County Community College Foundation, 1801 N. Kansas, Liberal, KS 67905.