Mary Kress

YUMA, Colo. - Mary Louise Kress of Yuma, Colo., formerly of Fort Morgan, Colo., died Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2004, at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colo.

Services were held in Fort Morgan. Burial was at Serenity Falls Memory Gardens in Fort Morgan. Herr and Jolliffe Mortuary in Fort Morgan was in charge of arrangements.

Mrs. Kress was born Dec. 28, 1922, in Bayard, to John and Mary (Betzold) Rusch. Her family moved to Colorado, where she was raised on various farms in the Fort Morgan area and attended school there.

She married Herman "Ed" Kress July 13, 1940. They lived in California for several years while her husband worked in the shipyards, and then in 1945, they moved back to Colorado, where they were in business in Wiggins. She assisted her husband with his various business ventures of selling farm equipment and their fertilizer business. In 1968, they began owning and operating the Bronze Lantern Motel in Yuma, while they also continued in the fertilizer business, managing Yuma's American Fertilizer and Chemical Company. In 1977, she moved back to Fort Morgan where she continued in the motel management business. She retired in 1988 and moved back to Yuma.

Survivors include three daughters, Bonnie (Fred) Frihauf of Yuma, Susie (Kenny) Jackson of Denver, Colo., and Roberta Ruhl of Columbus; one son, Ed (Annette) Kress of Apache Junction, Ariz.; special friend, Jim Russell; seven grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband in November of 1977; two sisters, Marjorie Rusch and Dorothy Bernhardt; one brother, Ted Rusch; and one son-in-law, Allen "Bud" Ruhl.