Hazel Kruse

Hazel Benson Kruse passed away peacefully on September 22, 2025 with her family at her bedside in her home in Grants Pass, Oregon. She was 100 years old. She was born on February 23, 1925, in Pocatello, Idaho.

Hazel was the youngest child of Orrin Raymond Benson and Annie Asenath Smith. She had three older brothers and two older sisters. She grew up in Pocatello, Idaho, and graduated from Pocatello High School. She was voted queen of her sophomore class. She graduated in 1942. After graduating from high school, Hazel and her mother went to Louisiana to visit Hazel’s brother Clair who was stationed there in the Army during WWII.

One of Clair’s close regiment buddies was Theodore (Ted) Kruse from New York. When Hazel and Ted met, they were immediately attracted to each other. It was a storybook romance and they married three months later on September 26, 1942 in Louisiana. Ted was shipped overseas the next day. When Ted and Hazel were reunited after the war, they lived in New York with Ted’s parents. Hazel soon became pregnant and they moved to Idaho to be near her parents. While in Idaho, they had two sons, Theodore (Teddy) Clair and Robert (Robby) George and a daughter, LuAnne.

When the gun plant in Idaho where Ted worked closed, Ted accepted a job offer in California. They moved their little family to the Mojave Desert community of Ridgecrest/China Lake. After growing up in Idaho, Hazel was shocked by the desolate desert area. It was very hot and a lot of sand. Hazel and Ted got involved with their church and neighborhood community and soon learned to love their new home where they welcomed two more daughters, Janeen and Kathy. They lived in Ridgecrest, CA for 23 years. Hazel was a “stay at home mom” until her children got older and eventually went to work as a dental assistant which she loved. Ted and Hazel retired and moved to Oceanside, CA. They enjoyed living near the beach but the cost of living eventually required them to move somewhere more affordable. They moved to Grants Pass, Oregon, to be close to their oldest son until the time of their deaths.

Hazel was a faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and served in many different callings. While in Grants Pass, Hazel devoted 6,000 hours to being a hospital volunteer at both Josephine General Hospital and Asante Three Rivers Medical Center. She loved spending time with family, bowling, golfing, and attending church.

Hazel was preceded in death by her parents and five siblings, her oldest son Teddy, grandson Robby, and her husband Ted. She is survived by her son Robert (Rob) Kruse of Ridgecrest, California, daughters LuAnne Brannies (Gary) of Springfield, Oregon, Janeen Johansen (Kevin) of St. George, Utah, and Kathy Smith Best (Tony) of Vista, California, her daughter-in-law Helen Kruse of Grants Pass, Oregon, and by 18 grandchildren, 51 great-grandchildren, and 11 great-great-grandchildren.

Funeral Services will be held on Saturday, September 27, 2025, at 10:30 AM at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 747 NE Savage Street, Grants Pass, OR. Graveside, Monday, September 29, 2025, 11:00 AM, Eagle Point National Cemetary, 2763 Riley Rd, Eagle Point, OR. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to ATRMC Asante Auxiliary at asantefoundation.org or Providence Hospice: Providence Community Health Foundation, 940 Royal Ave., Suite 410, Medford, OR 97504.

Please leave a memory of Hazel in her Guestbook.