Auburn, IN, May 5, 2007 - The founder of Kruse International, Russell W. Kruse, passed away on Friday, May 4, 2007 at 9am at Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He was 85 years old and had survived major heart surgery only 3 weeks earlier. He was getting ready to be released for rehabilitation when he suffered a massive stroke that ended his life.
Russell Wayne Kruse was born in the Kruse homestead farm house on December 9th 1922. His father was Fred Kruse, and his mother was Goldie (Gerig) Kruse, they resided south of Auburn, Indiana. A town made famous by the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Company. Kruse would help to put the town back on the map with his successful classic car auctions. The classic car auction profession didn’t even exist when he was growing up.
Like many people at that time, Russell married when he was still young -- only 18. He settled down with Luella Boger and they had seven children including Dean who took up the auction gavel to eventually lead the company.
Several of his 25 Grandchildren and 19 Great-Grandchildren have also caught the auction bug.
Before launching his classic auto auction enterprise Russell worked as a farmer helping his father, Fred Kruse, and father-in–law, Lester Boger. He worked hard and moved to bigger and bigger farms. He eventually increased his Holstein dairy herd to 63 milk cows but two years of flooding prompted him to look for another way to make a living.
In 1952, Russell attended Repperts Auction School. After graduating he hit the business like a hurricane. After one year he became the leading auctioneer in his area. During his career, he conducted auctions in Canada, Europe, and across America. At a meeting with John Martin Smith, Del Johnson, and his son Dean, it was Russell, who brought up the idea of selling vintage cars at Auction to help raise money for the Auburn Chamber of Commerce.
This was an idea whose time had come and Kruse International was soon selling exotic cars like Greta Garbo’s 1933 Duesenberg, a Mercedes-Benz owned by Hermann Goring, the 1956 Bentley driven by John Lennon and cars that once belonged to the Pope and Al Capone. His business grew and grew.
Russell married Lyubov Koutsova of St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1998 who survives him. His first wife, Luella, died in 2000.
Russell’s son, Dean, is now President and Dean’s wife Kristin is chief operating officer. Together they own and manage Kruse International. Russell is survived by two sisters, Helen (Kruse) Rowe, of Auburn and Ruth Doris (Kruse) Moreland of Toronto.
His children are all active in their community. Russell encouraged all of his children to be active and to be involved in making their home area a better place to live.
He helped turn classic car auctions into a booming business that took him to some pretty swanky locations like Pebble Beach, but he never lost touch with his roots.
Russell was known for singing “Back Home Again in Indiana” at all Kruse auctions he attended. He also sang “The Star Spangled Banner” at many large auctions.
He was a classic who will be missed.
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