Ginny Kruger

Ginny Jo-Anne Kruger, age 64 passed away peacefully and went home to be with the Lord on Friday, March 8th of 2024. She has stepped onto the shores of eternity where she met her Lord and Savior face to face! Oh, what a meeting she has imagined that will be! She had been diagnosed with breast cancer in May of 2007. She had fought cancer off and on for 17 years. Her strong will to live, unwavering faith in God, and the love and prayers of family and friends carried her through the years.

Ginny was born on March 4th, 1960, in Ottumwa, Iowa, and was told by her mother that she was born on the only day of the year that gives a direct command…MARCH FOURTH! God chose her to "march forth" with life and that is what she did. She was born to parents: Joy Delouise Lathrop (Burns) and the only father she knew, Robert Russell Burns, Jr.

Her faith in the Lord Jesus Christ was of utmost importance in her life. She loved her family and considered time spent with them one of her greatest joys. She loved life and always had a smile for everyone. Her long life was filled with love, faith, and compassion.

Ginny attended North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) and obtained a Licensed Practical Nursing Degree. As an LPN she worked at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Mason City for a few years and later at North Iowa Eye Clinic.

At the sweet age of sixteen, Ginny had met the "love of her life" Terry Lee Kruger and dated for a short time. Remaining friends in the church youth group, they went their separate ways only to discover each other years later at a youth roller skating party. Dating again, they realized their love for each other and married on November 6th, 1982. Terry was her first love, her last love, and her forever love!  Married for 41 years, they had four children: Katie, Tyler, Caleb, and Isaac. Terry and Ginny genuinely loved each other and modeled what a wonderful, joyous, and God-filled marriage should look like.

Ginny taught Sunday School, managed the church nursery, was a part of the Praise and Worship team, involved in children's ministries, and hosted Bible study groups at her home. She shaped her family's spirituality by her Christian example. She was a woman of faith and the heart of the Kruger family. Ginny loved the Lord with all her heart and loved to learn, read, pray, sing, and take care of her family. She loved camping, photography, scrapbooking, card games, going to movies and theatre plays, and hosting family events.

Ginny encompassed other families into her life during the 10+ years of in-home day care during the child-rearing years of her own children. They too became part of her family, and she loved playing with them, reading them stories, doing crafts, being outside, and watching them grow. When her children were all in school, Ginny went to work for Community Christian School for almost 10 years, then Iowa Central Community College until the family's move from Fort Dodge to Ankeny, Iowa in 2011. Loving the school setting, she stayed in that field as Executive Secretary and Office Manager at North High School in Des Moines, IA, for 11+ years.

Her heart's desire and prayer for her family, friends, and co-workers was for them to see Jesus in her and for them all to choose Jesus for themselves as their own personal Lord and Savior.

We, her family, have been blessed by God to have known her and have her as part of our lives. She is survived by husband Terry, 4 children (Katie, Tyler, Caleb & Isaac), future daughter-in-law (Katelynn Anderson), sister Vicki Hearn (Husband: Keith), brother Randy Burns (Wife: Tammy), Aunt Joanna, and many nieces & nephews.

Ginny is preceded in death by both parents: Robert R. Burns, Jr. & Joy D. Burns, sister-in-law: Martha Burns, brother: Robert G. Burns, father-in-law: Roy M. Kruger and mother-in-law: Leila C. Kruger.