Rine Michael Kruger

Biography

Michael was born in Bucyrus, Ohio on August 4, 1945, to Rine and Charlotte Kruger.  He grew up in Anderson and then Muncie, Indiana.  From the 1920’s into the 1950’s Muncie was the subject of a long-running social study and a PBS documentary called Middletown USA.  It was a classic Midwestern town of about 40,000.  In addition to the Delco Remy battery plant where his dad was employed as a chemical engineer, the town had Ball State Teachers’ College. and Ball Brothers Glass (of Ball Mason Jar fame). 

He attended Muncie Central, where he excelled academically and was a member of the swim team among other activities.  MCHS was the reigning state basketball champions in that era, captured in the movie “Hoosiers.”  Exciting times indeed.  Michael admitted to being a “loner” for the most part, but “went steady” with a girl who got him involved in the social scene.  

Most importantly, he was heavily involved in Boy Scouts, advancing “on the trail” to Eagle in 1961.  Some of his fondest memories were the summers he served on staff at Camp Redwing in turn as nature and aquatics counselors.  He liked to tell us about the times he participated in a couple of sneaks out of camp.  The road to town was down a hill by the director’s cabin, so they shut off the car engine, put in the clutch, and coasted by his place!  One time they made a canoe foray upstream to the nearby Girl Scout camp, but never had the nerve to approach any actual buildings.  He became very active in the Scouting honor group, Order of the Arrow, and served on several Camporee staffs.

Michael attended the 1960 Boy Scout Jamboree in Colorado Springs followed by a five-day trek at Philmont Scout Ranch.  That was a highlight of his scouting years, and later he had the pleasure of returning there as Scoutmaster on troop trips with his sons, Peter and David.  

During the fall of his senior year in high school, Michael’s math teacher encouraged him to apply to MIT.  After an initial rejection, his MIT alumnus counselor, Abbot Johnson, urged MIT to reconsider.  He was wait-listed and was finally accepted.  Despite excellent high school grades, that freshman year at MIT was a real struggle.  Still, he persisted and by his junior year things clicked and he graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering.  

Joining the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity became the biggest part of his college life.  Their house was a beautiful six-story mansion at 99 Bay State Road overlooking the Charles River.  He formed many life-long friendships during those years, particularly with Ken Follansbee as well as Doug McCraith, Bruce Twickler, Tom Tennison, Jack Mumford, Bill Flor, Travis Gamble, and others. 

Michael was a member of the Lightweight Crew team for most of his time at MIT.  He moved to the Varsity boat sophomore year and was Stroke for all but a few races.  They won the Lightweight 8 Class in the first Head of the Charles race, now one of the biggest races in the world.  

He met Suzanne in January of 1966, his junior year.  She was a freshman at Boston University and lived down the street in one of BU’s brownstone dorms.  They became “pinned” (in those days, a kind of trial engagement) in September, 1967.  Apparently the trial was successful; they celebrated their 52nd wedding anniversary this year.

In the summer of 1966, his father, Rine, secured a job for him in Antwerp, Belgium at the GM assembly plant. He did some basic drafting, met some good people, and enjoyed traveling around Europe on weekends in his new Opel Kadett.  Suzanne still has the letters he sent her about those travels with his reflection on the many sights he enjoyed.  One of the trips was to Winschoten, Netherlands where he met his Dutch relative, Reint Mellema, for the first time.  Over the years, there have been many enjoyable visits with Reint and his wife Johanna.  

After graduating in 1967, Michael entered Civil Engineering grad school at MIT.  He received full financial support as a teaching and research assistant.  Following that he went to work for the Navy as a civilian in Washington, D.C. at the old Main Navy complex near the White House and Washington Monument. He and Suzanne lived in D.C. until 1970.  Those were interesting times, including the Watergate break-in and Viet Nam War protests.  It was also a great opportunity to enjoy the many historical places and museums in the area.

In 1970, the Navy transferred Michael to the Technical Representative office at RCA in Moorestown, NJ.  He and others helped RCA, a prime contractor, deal with its subcontractors and other Navy branches in the development of the Navy’s Aegis Weapons System.  

Engineering did not hold long-term appeal for Michael. Following his work with the Navy, he decided to pursue his MBA at Stanford.  Prior to starting school, he and Suzanne left New Jersey and traveled around the perimeter of the U.S. in their camper “Frodo” for four months followed by work at a private boys’ camp in Minocqua, Wisconsin.  Travis Gamble, a fraternity brother, was on staff as well. Michael was the aquatics director and Suzanne served as the camp nurse.  They lived in the med lodge, a clapboard house overlooking the lake where the loons called to each other every morning.  Michael enjoyed taking the campers on some wonderful canoe trips in that beautiful country.  

During their first year at Stanford, Michael and Suzanne lived in married student housing on campus.  Suzanne worked nights in the ICU at Stanford Medical Center while Michael attended classes during the day.  Weekends were often spent with John Drobak and his wife Mary.  John, a fraternity brother, was in his last year at Stanford Law School.  They introduced the Krugers to the joys of college football games and the famous Stanford band’s antics, all enhanced by a shared thermos of covert frozen daiquiris.  

For the second year there, Michael and Suzanne took over management of a small apartment building near campus from the Drobaks who had moved up to San Francisco.  The manager's apartment was spacious and comfortable.  Tending the landscaping with its night jasmine, orange and fig trees, and a fish pond were welcome diversions for both of them.  Most of the apartments were leased by Silicon Valley types, all bachelors.  The only unpleasant aspect of their job was cleaning out a unit when someone moved.  Yikes!

At this time, Michael became business manager of the Stanford Daily newspaper.  It was a much more enjoyable year for both Michael and Suzanne.  She took a break from nursing to work for the Daily as the classified ad manager.  This enabled them to spend a lot of time together.  They enjoyed biking to campus, sometimes with their cat “OJ” in Suzanne’s basket.  Weekends were spent backpacking in Yosemite or enjoying San Francisco with the Drobaks.

Following grad school, Michael was hired by American Television and Communications, a young cable TV company based in Denver, to manage their San Diego system.  During the three years there, he and Suzanne bought their first home and enjoyed sailing along the coast in their used 19’ boat.  Their house was a mile up from the Ocean Beach pier with a view of Mission Bay.  After a promotion to Division Manager for the Western Region, they moved to Denver in 1977 and built their home outside of Castle Rock in 1978.  Two years later, ATC was bought out by Time, Inc.  Michael’s boss throughout his time at ATC, Michael McCrudden, and his wife Lynne remained lifelong friends and godparents to son Peter. 

In 1982, after a four-year wait on the adoption list, Michael and Suzanne became parents of their son, Rine Peter.  In 1987, after another four plus years of waiting, they got “the call” and their second son, David Michael, arrived to complete their family.  Peter and David became the most important and loving focus of Michael’s and Suzanne’s lives.  Gratitude for the gift of their sons shaped their years as parents and family. 

Michael decided to leave the corporate world and went to work for a smaller cable company.  After running Harmon & Co. for several years, Michael went out on his own and started Western Cablesystems in 1986.  He put together an investor group and bank lender, purchasing several cable TV systems in Texas (Austin), California, Arizona and Nederland, Colorado.  This was the most satisfying time in Michael’s career; he very much enjoyed managing his own company for many years.  By 2000, the cable business was taken over by the large companies so he sold his systems, continued consulting work and retired.

Early retirement afforded Michael more time to devote to his family.  As Peter and David moved from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts, he joined Suzanne as a Scouter and became the troop Scoutmaster for T261 in Castle Rock.  At the time Peter joined the troop, there were about 20 Scouts; under Michael’s leadership and with the help of other parents, the troop grew to nearly 80.  They enjoyed annual high adventure trips to Philmont, Canoe Base, and Sea Base.  Both Peter and David earned their Eagle rank and membership in the Order of the Arrow.  

Michael served as aquatics director in 2002 at Peaceful Valley, the Denver Area Council’s summer camp in Elbert, Colorado.  Both Peter and David were on staff as well.  For the following two summers, Michael was Ranch Director for all three camps at PV.  He directed a staff of 150 youth, ranging in age from 15 to 22 for both Cubs and Boy Scouts.  It was a very challenging job, one that was rewarding and exhausting at the same time.  Suzanne joined the staff for the summer of 2004; having all four of us there was truly wonderful.  

Michael reflected on his adult years in Scouting both with his family and at the Council and Regional level.  Along with his own time as a youth, he found that he had some of the biggest outdoor adventures and pleasures in life through Scouting.  He felt it all was worthwhile to have never worked for a big company, and to not have pursued financial gain as hard as he could have.  His family is most grateful for the choices he made.

Throughout the years, Michael enjoyed a very active life…hiking, skiing, sailing, biking, scuba diving, and days at the beach.  When Suzanne packed her hiking boots for their honeymoon, she knew she was in for a different kind of life with Michael. They shared many wonderful travel adventures together, with Peter and David, and in recent years, with good friends.  An avid reader and learner, he enjoyed many subjects including history, science, the arts and the occasional good detective series.  His sons always marveled at the obscure facts he had tucked away when any topic came up for discussion, and Michael always found pleasure in a stimulating conversation.

After moving to Fort Collins, Colorado in 2013, Michael and Suzanne enjoyed the many advantages of a college town.  Their home is close to Colorado State University so they could easily walk to concerts and visit the beautiful trial gardens tended by the university’s agricultural department. They took full advantage of the city-wide biking trail system and nearby hiking trails. Those were such enjoyable times together.  David and family live ten minutes away, so they shared lots of time together.  Peter and Amanda settled in the Denver area, only an hour’s drive away. 

Our family moved Michael’s mother Charlotte and brother Jim from California into assisted living care in Fort Collins in October, 2018.  Michael’s brother Bill and his wife Julie moved from California to Fort Collins in August of 2020 to help with our family.  Along with nephew Derek and his wife Lacey here as well, it became a family joke that the Krugers were taking over Fort Collins.  Sadly, we lost Charlotte in February of this year at age 96.

In early 2018, Michael began treatment for what appeared to be early complications of Multiple Myeloma.  Although he had the precursor for this disease for over ten years, the doctors felt his leg weakness might be due to ALS but it was too early to tell.  

After a year of immunotherapy for Myeloma, and with worsening symptoms, the conclusion was that it was ALS.  Over the next two years, Michael faced this fatal diagnosis with the grace, dignity and fortitude that those of you who knew him would expect of him.  He liked to say as long as he could treat it as a “project,” he could handle it. His family and friends sustained him throughout with much love and tender care.  Frequent visits and stimulating talks with Peter, David, and “daughters” Amanda and Robyn always lifted his spirits.  Spending time with his five young grandchildren was a precious but all too brief part of his life.  One of the harshest realities that Michael had to face was knowing that he would not see his grandchildren grow up.  The prospect of leaving his family was truly the most painful cruelty inflicted upon him by this disease.  

Michael’s long, difficult and devastating journey ended at home on October 18, 2021 with Suzanne at his side. 

“With you my friend, I am there…”

The following includes a collection of photos selected by Michael for this remembrance site, and information for his family, friends and others whose lives were touched by him.