Charles Kruse

Charles Kruse, beloved father, husband, brother, and grandfather, was born in Seattle in 1950 and grew up the youngest of four siblings-Earl, Marguerite, Pam, and Chuck. Their happiest years were in a house above Carkeek Park, where they once set the woods on fire with cousins and put it out with buckets and sheer fear.

He attended Roosevelt High School and lived for a time in Honolulu before returning to Seattle and meeting his wife, Anna. They married in 1976 near Green Lake, then left Seattle for five wild acres in Tulalip, where they raised their children, Megan and Ryan.

Chuck worked as a respiratory therapist at Providence Hospital in Everett for 35 years. He loved salt, coffee, fried eggs, and a long line of dogs: Rufus, Toby, Snow, Hobo, Koko, Misty, Spot, Jinx, and Molly. He rode a Can Am Spyder motorcycle and played the bass. He loved kayaking in Puget Sound, telling stories, and running backward across the lawn to make his kids laugh.

He was Grandpa to Harry and Juli, who loved playing puppies with him. In his last two years, he took his RV, Thor, on the road to Alaska, Winnipeg, the Southwest, and up and down the Washington coast.

Chuck died on October 25, 2025. When he was young, his father bought him a soapbox derby car; on its first run, his siblings and cousins piled in, and it splintered. When we think of him now, we hope he is a boy again, the car shining in the sun, flying so fast it barely touches the ground.