KRAUSE, Waltraut (1928-2020)

KRAUSE

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 7/2/2022 at 23:30:13

Waltraut Krause
(August 12, 1928 - June 13, 2020)

Waltraut's Obituary

Waltraut (Trudy) Krause passed away peacefully at home June 13, 2020. Trudy was born in 1928 to Erich and Berta Mey in East Prussia, which was at that time part of Germany. During WWII, she and her mother were forced to flee before the encroaching Russian front. They endured many challenges, but safely arrived behind American lines and went to a small island off the coast of Denmark. There she met a recovering German soldier who had been released from a Russian prisoner of war camp. Herbert Krause and Trudy were married in 1945 and had their first daughter, while they were trying to help rebuild Germany.
In 1954, they embarked on the adventure of a lifetime and emigrated to the United States. Their second daughter was born a year later, and they settled in to embrace their new land. They became US citizens a few years later, and continued to learn and enjoy the opportunities of their home. Trudy became an insurance underwriter (the first female underwriter in that company!) and Herb was a tool and die designer.
When they retired, they moved from Iowa to a warmer climate in Arkansas and enjoyed many years swimming and boating at their lakefront home in Hot Springs. Trudy continued to enjoy her time sewing and gardening, learned how to play a complex Lowery Organ, and determinedly entered the computer age with her first computer at age 70. She and Herb enjoyed nearly 65 years of marriage prior to his passing in 2013.
Trudy continued to live at West Shores in Hot Springs and made many friends there that she was loathe to leave in April of 2019 to return to Iowa to be nearer to family. She repeatedly mentioned the cold Iowa winter and was looking forward to summer when she passed.
Trudy is survived by her daughters Dagmar Spencer of Pullman, Washington, and Norma Newton (Roland) of New Virginia, Iowa; grandson Benjamin Meyer (Kelly): granddaughters Nadia Palmer (Bill), Julia Meyer, and Tovah Whitesall (Eric); and two great-grandsons Ryan and Garion. She will be greatly missed.
Per Trudy’s oft expressed wishes, there will be no visitation or funeral. This memorial is provided by Overton Funeral Home, 501 West Ashland Ave., Indianola, Iowa, http://www.overtonfuneral.com/