In Memory

Laura Jones (Kruse) - Class Of 1966

Laura Jones (Kruse)

Laura Jones Kruse

February 5, 1948 - March 20, 2021

Laura, widow, mother, grandmother, and friend, passed away at her home in Washoe Valley, Nevada. She was born to Robert and Margret Jones and moved to Evanston, Indiana where she grew up as a young girl. She and her brother William Jones (SPHS '65) moved with the family to southern California, where she graduated from South Pasadena High School Class of 1966. There she met and married Robert Pieters (SPHS '65) before having two children, Shannon and Cameron and eventually moving to Washoe Valley in 1976.

Laura was a teachers' assistant at Pleasant Valley Elementary School and Swope Middle School before working at La Pinata Restaurant and J.B's Abor House as a hostess. She tended bar at the Sand & Sage Bar and Grill where she met and fell in love with Thomas Kruse before marrying in 1991. This union combined two families with a total of six children.

Laura owned and operated the Good to Go Pizza Deli and the Mini-Storage facility where she touched the lives of many of her wonderful customers and treated her employees like family. Her deli had numerous collectables scattered throughout which she obtained from storage units when customers were unable to pay the rent and Laura's kind heart couldn't enforce rent collection. Laura loved painting, cooking, and traveling to the Jackson Family Ranch in Gerlach, Nevada where she and Tom spent the majority of their off-time. Nothing pleased Laura more than being with Tom, and after his death in 2017 she wanted nothing more than to be by his side once again. Laura fought a disease during her life that eventually limited her to bed rest the final eight months of her life in Washoe Valley.

Laura is survived by her children Shannon (AJ), Cameron (Jana); step-children Stacy, Kelly (Terry), Wendy (Matt), and Casey; and eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Laura was preceded in death by her husband Tom, brother, William and parents.

Reno-Gazette-Journal, May 15, 2021