Richard A. Kruse, age 65, died June 29, 2013, at Mesquite, Texas. Funeral services will be held 11:00 a.m. Saturday, August 10, 2013, at First Baptist Church in White, with visitations with the family present, beginning at 10:00 a.m. Interment and military rites will follow at Fairview Cemetery in White. Richard A. Kruse was born March 26, 1948, at Hendricks, Minnesota, to Eilert A. and Johanna E. (Jurrens) Kruse. He graduated from Anoka Senior High School in Anoka, Minnesota, in June 1966. He attended Oak Hills Bible Institute in Bemidji, Minnesota, until he was drafted into the U.S. Army in June 1968. After his discharge from the Army in Germany he traveled in Europe for one year. He returned to Minnesota and attended Pillsbury Baptist Bible College in Owatonna and Central Seminary in Minneapolis. Richard was engaged to be married, but the engagement was broken off and he remained single. After his parents preceded him in death, he had a burden on his heart for the downtrodden of society. He led an unsettled life, himself becoming one of the downtrodden for whom he felt such empathy. Survivors include two brothers: Lowell D. Kruse of Owatonna, Minnesota, and John I. Kruse of Davenport, Florida; an aunt; and many cousins, nieces, and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents and an infant sister, LuJean May Kruse.